coup d'oeil
- noun
- /kuː deɪ ˈaɪ/
- Formal
:
vistazo
- With a single coup d'oeil, she sized up the entire situation.
Examples
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Take a coup d'oeil at the menu before deciding.
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The general took a coup d'oeil at the battlefield before issuing his orders.
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His coup d'oeil of the artwork told him everything he needed to know.
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She gave a quick coup d'oeil to the crowd.
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With a single coup d'oeil, she sized up the entire situation.
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The general took a coup d'oeil at the battlefield before issuing his orders.
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His coup d'oeil of the artwork told him everything he needed to know.
Synonyms
222
1.4
A quick look that lasts a short time
170
3.0
A very short look at something you see quickly
162
2.1
A quick secret look at something
14
7.1
A quick look at something
4
3.2
A quick check of something to find obvious problems
4
1.9
A quick look that gives enough information at once
How Quick
Surface Forms
Morphology
coup + d'oeil
This is a French loanphrase whose literal parts (coup + d'œil = roughly 'stroke/blow of the eye') are not transparent to an English B1 learner—the second constituent is not an English word in the input and the provided sense of 'coup' ('an impressive, unexpected act') does not indicate 'glance'. Because the expression is a language-specific idiom/loan and its meaning 'a quick glance' is not directly derivable from the given constituent meanings, it is opaque to learners who only know the listed words.
Etymology
Coup d'oeil comes from French words that picture a quick 'hit of the eye': coup is a quick hit and oeil means 'eye'. Imagine your eyes moving across a scene in one fast go to see everything, so today coup d'oeil means 'a quick glance' that shows the whole situation.