dewy-eyed
English
editAlternative forms
edit- dew-eyed (archaic)
Etymology
editAdjective
editdewy-eyed (comparative more dewy-eyed, superlative most dewy-eyed)
- Having eyes with a moist, glistening appearance, especially as indicating that one is on the verge of crying or that one is experiencing strong emotions.
- c. 1910, Stewart Edward White, chapter 1, in The Call of the North:
- One she saw clearly—a dewy-eyed, lovely woman who murmured loving, broken words.
- 2000 June 12, Romesh Ratnesar, “The Victory Lap?”, in Time Europe:
- Bill Clinton has never shied away from displays of dewy-eyed, lip-biting sentimentality.
- (figuratively) Naive or innocent in the manner of a child.
- 1918, John Galsworthy, “The Apple Tree”, in Five Tales:
- At one moment he gave himself up completely to his pride at having captured this pretty, trustful, dewy-eyed thing!
- 1922, Frances Hodgson Burnett, chapter 21, in Robin:
- Dowie could scarcely have told what phrase or word at last suddenly brought up before her a picture of the nursery in the house in Mayfair—the feeling of a warm soft childish body pressed close to her knee, the look of a tender, dewy-eyed small face and the sound of a small yearning voice saying: "I want to kiss you, Dowie."
- Excessively nostalgic.
Synonyms
edit- (having eyes with a moist, glistening appearance): teary-eyed, misty-eyed
- (naive, innocent): callow, green, wet behind the ears
References
edit- “dewy-eyed”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.