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Glite Dictionary
to raise eyebrows

to raise eyebrows

5 4.2
Make people feel surprised, shocked, or disapproving because something is unusual
  • idiom
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  • Panetta has made two statements recently that should raise eyebrows.
  • certainly raises eyebrows
  • Trump raised eyebrows
  • started raising eyebrows

Examples

  • Her unexpected decision to leave the company early raised eyebrows among her colleagues.

  • I'm sure this idea would have been met with a raised eyebrow or two, so fair play to her for pursuing it.

    Blog text (2)

  • Even my own early successes were met with a raised eyebrow of disapproval.

    Blog text (30)

  • A female core gamer is still seen as enough of an oddity to raise eyebrows.

    Blog text (27)

  • Rihanna and Chris Brown are raising eyebrows about whether the R&B singers are back together.

    Blog text (2)

  • The growing roster of ordinary galaxies known to have a black hole at their center began to raise eyebrows among investigators: a supermassive black hole that's not a quasar?

    Academic text (2005)

  • The artist's bold choice of colors in the painting raised eyebrows at the gallery opening.

  • The new policy changes at the school have raised eyebrows among parents and teachers alike.

Synonyms

to raise an eyebrow
vsto raise eyebrows
9 4.5

To show surprise or doubt by lifting one eyebrow

causes others to feel surprised, shocked, or disapproving rather than just showing a gesture

Antonyms

to reassure
163 3.4

To make someone feel less worried and more confident

How Surprising

to shock
202 2.1
to surprise
∞ 1.0
to raise eyebrows
5 4.2
to slip under the radar
  • Informal
1 6.3

Surface Forms

raise eyebrows infinitive
raised eyebrows past
raised eyebrows past participle
raising eyebrows present participle
raises eyebrows third person singular

Morphology

raise + eyebrow

The meaning is directly inferable from the parts: 'raise' (to lift or cause to move up) plus 'eyebrows' (a facial feature) describes the visible gesture people make when surprised or disapproving. This facial-action-to-emotion mapping is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words can reasonably deduce that to 'raise eyebrows' means to cause surprise, shock, or disapproval.

Etymology

The idiom raise eyebrows comes from the small movement people make with their face when they are surprised or find something odd. You raise your eyebrows to show that feeling, so the phrase means 'to cause people to feel surprised, shocked, or disapproving'.