to undress with one's eyes
- idiom
- NSFW
:
desvestir con la mirada
- He made her uncomfortable by undressing her with his eyes during the meeting.
Examples
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She could tell that he was undressing her with his eyes from across the room.
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It's inappropriate to undress someone with your eyes, especially in a professional environment.
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Don't undress with your eyes in public!
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He undresses with his eyes every time Sarah walks by.
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She could sense him undressing her with his eyes as soon as she entered the bar.
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It's often obvious when someone is undressing you with their eyes at a party.
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Many women feel uncomfortable when they notice someone undressing them with their eyes.
Synonyms
152
4.8
To look closely at someone with interest
7
7.9
To look at someone in a strong, often sexual way that may make them feel uncomfortable
2
8.1
Look at someone to show romantic or sexual interest
1
9.9
To look at someone in a sexual way that makes them feel uncomfortable
Looking at someone in a rude, sexual way that makes them feel uncomfortable
Look at someone to show romantic or sexual interest
How Sexual
Surface Forms
Morphology
undress + with + one's + eye
The sense is a straightforward metaphor: combining 'undress' (to remove clothes) with 'with one's eyes' (using the gaze) yields the idea of mentally or visually treating someone as if undressed. This composition is transparent and cross-linguistically common (e.g. Spanish 'desnudar con la mirada'), so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would very likely infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
Undress with one's eyes paints a picture of someone using their eyes like hands to undress another person, imagining them without clothes. That's why it means 'to look at someone in a sexual way, as if imagining them without their clothes'.