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Glite Dictionary
to raise an eyebrow

to raise an eyebrow

9 4.5
To show surprise or doubt by lifting one eyebrow
  • idiom
translation icon : levantar una ceja
  • He raised an eyebrow in disbelief when she told him her plan.
  • raise an eyebrow, said

And I, I am sure it raised an eyebrow.

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Examples

  • Criticism of the government, once unheard of in newspapers, barely raises an eyebrow today.

    Academic text (1993)

  • "Now, some of you may be raising an eyebrow at that."

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Perhaps you have raised an eyebrow thinking it all sounds very noble really.

  • And I have to say they do raise an eyebrow a little bit, But then again, it's Joe Biden.

  • I think she raised an eyebrow and said, I'm standing right here.

  • When he had finally moved his family to Queens, no one raised an eyebrow.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • I felt gratified when she raised an eyebrow ever so slightly at my new appearance.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • A gray-haired man behind the counter raised an eyebrow, then let it drop.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • "Several million dollars?" Thorn raised an eyebrow and looked at Rossini.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • Heikki could not help raising an eyebrow at that, and Ciceron smiled crookedly.

    Fiction book (1990)

How Surprised

gasp
312 1.8
to raise an eyebrow
9 4.5
to look
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

raise an eyebrow infinitive
raised an eyebrow past
raised an eyebrow past participle
raising an eyebrow present participle
raises an eyebrow third person singular

Morphology

raise + an + eyebrow

The phrase is a straightforward combination of 'raise' (lift) and 'eyebrow' (facial feature) referring to literally lifting an eyebrow; this bodily action conventionally signals surprise or skepticism. Because the meaning is a direct, observable extension of the constituent words and the gesture is cross-linguistically common, a B1 learner who knows the parts will be able to infer the idiomatic reading.

Etymology

Raise an eyebrow comes from the small, visible act of lifting one eyebrow to show surprise or doubt. When someone raises an eyebrow, they quietly say 'I am surprised' or 'I do not believe you', so the phrase means 'to show surprise or skepticism'.