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Glite Dictionary
murderous look

murderous look

1 5.8
A very angry face that makes someone feel afraid
  • noun
  • NSFW
translation icon : mirada homicida
  • Cutter (long murderous look).
  • shot a murderous look
  • murderous look on her face
  • murderous look in his eye

Examples

  • I gave Tom a murderous look.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Cutter's "murderous look" vanishes, replaced by his regular look of cool, calculating intelligence.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • Ramsey shoots him a murderous look, then asks Catherine.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • He cringed at the murderous look on her face.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Tiff shot a murderous look at her grandmother and picked up the next sticky bun.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Where is the traitor?" He shot a murderous look at the sea captain as if he suspected Law of having personally given away their plans for piracy.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • He stood, glowering at Josh and I Hadley with a murderous look.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Extreme close-up of John's face, a murderous look in his eye, as Vaughn stands beside him.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • The McMuffins (UK) "Iowahawk and his lovely wife... did not appear to be the psychopathic stalking killers we had been warned about, although that Iowahawk did have a murderous look in his eyes and an unusual amount of froth coming from his mouth."

    Blog text (21)

  • His mother fixed him with a murderous look that made him too afraid to speak.

Synonyms

death stare
vsmurderous look
2 7.4

A fierce look that shows anger or dislike

is more violent and suggests actual harm rather than only intimidation
cold stare
vsmurderous look
2 4.6

A fixed unfriendly look that shows anger or disapproval

is stronger and more violent seeming ready to cause serious harm

Antonyms

friendly
773 1.0

Kind and helpful toward other people

gentle
235 1.0

Kind and not strong in action, sound, or touch

How Threatening

murderous look
  • NSFW
1 5.8
glare
18 3.9
frown
54 1.0

Surface Forms

murderous look singular
murderous looks plural

Morphology

murderous + look

The meaning is directly composed from 'murderous' (extremely violent/likely to kill) + 'look' (facial expression), so a learner who knows both words can infer it denotes a very fierce, threatening expression. This adjective+noun composition is straightforward and cross-linguistically common, so the metaphorical sense is immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Murderous look comes from the strong image of someone staring so angrily their eyes seem able to 'kill'. The word murderous means 'to kill' and the look means face or eyes, so the phrase now means a very angry, threatening expression.