met lede ogen

Dutch

Etymology

Literally, “with sad eyes”.

Prepositional phrase

met lede ogen

1. (idiomatic) with sadness, wearily

   Hij ziet de achteruitgang met lede ogen aan. ― He observes the deterioriation with sadness.

   Ik volg zijn dwalingen met lede ogen. ― I wearily keep track of his errors.

   We keken met lede ogen toe terwijl het noodlot zich voltrok. ― We observed with sadness as the evil fate unfolded.

Usage notes

• Most commonly found with the verb aanzien (and, to lesser degrees, with other verbs of observation).