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side-eye

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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The American actor George Clooney at the 2013 Golden Globe Awards appearing to give some side-eye

From side +‎ eye.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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side-eye (countable and uncountable, plural side-eyes)

  1. A sidelong look, particularly of animosity, judgment, or suspicion.
    Synonym: evil eye
    • 2009 November 17, Michael Slezak, “Kris Allen: A Track-by-track Analysis of His Self-titled Debut Album”, in Entertainment Weekly[1], New York, N.Y.: Entertainment Weekly, Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 3 August 2019:
      I'm going to admit that the opening strains sound a wee bit "demo from a home studio," and that the title itself – paired with any other artist – would probably result in a side eye and a quip about done-to-death, cheese-pop metaphors.
    • 2010 January 12, Jennifer Cooke, “Billy Squier As a Revolutionary?”, in PopMatters[2], archived from the original on 3 August 2019:
      [Billy] Squier's band makes a valiant effort to match his camp quotient, with lots of open shirts, exposed chest hair and sexy side-eyes to the camera.
    • 2014 October 24, Jenée Desmond-Harris, “We Still Judge Monica Lewinsky More Harshly than Bill Clinton, and It’s Not Okay”, in Vox[3], archived from the original on 23 July 2019:
      The incredibly different ways [Bill] Clinton and [Monica] Lewinsky are treated even today makes a shockingly sad statement about how, 15 years of discussion of gender equality later – including the insertion of slut-shaming into the national dialogue as something you're not supposed to do – we can't even manage to divide our collective side-eyes evenly between men and women.
    • 2016, Jules Bennett, chapter 1, in His Secret Baby Bombshell (Dynasties: The Newports Series; book 4), Sydney, N.S.W.: Mills & Boon Desire, →ISBN:
      It was his side eye. He had the sexiest side eye she'd ever seen. He'd tip his head in that George Clooney kind of way and peer at you from beneath those thick lashes.
    • 2017 March 16, Cady Lang, “A Recent History of Notable Celebrity Side-Eye”, in Time[4], New York, N.Y.: Time Warner Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 17 December 2018:
      Side-eye, that sidelong glance favored by shade queens like Mariah Carey [and] devil-may-care rebels like Rihanna, is finally being acknowledged in the canon [the Merriam–Webster Dictionary].
    • 2018 May 20, Hadley Freeman, “Is Meghan Markle the American the royals have needed all along?”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian[5], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 October 2018:
      I saw some snarking online about Bishop Michael Curry's passionate sermon, and certainly the royal family seemed unnerved by it, with Zara Philips watching it in apparent open-mouthed shock and Kate and Camilla shooting each other some heavy side-eye.
    • 2019 April 11, Jen Juneau, “Anderson Cooper Jokes about Pal Andy Cohen’s ‘Judgy’ Baby Son Benjamin: ‘Amazing Side-Eye’”, in People[6], New York, N.Y.: Meredith Corporation, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 April 2019:
      "If you look closely at Benjamin's face in that picture, he's got amazing side-eye,” [Anderson] Cooper joked. "He's got this side-eye look, like he's very judgy. In general, I think babies are very judgy, but he's particularly judgy."

Alternative forms

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Translations

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Verb

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side-eye (third-person singular simple present side-eyes, present participle side-eyeing or side-eying, simple past and past participle side-eyed)

  1. (transitive) To look at out of the corner of one's eye, particularly with animosity, or in a judgmental or suspicious manner.
    • 2003, Faye Kicknosway, “Hat Trick”, in Mixed Plate: New and Selected Poems (Wesleyan Poetry), Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, →ISBN, page xiv:
      When I'm working my attention isn't caught straight ahead into the blinkered page, it's side eyeing whatever's peripheral, whatever's random.
    • 2004, Lee Stringer, chapter 20, in Sleepaway School: Stories from a Boy’s Life, New York, N.Y.: Seven Stories Press, →ISBN, page 119:
      When we fell out in front for the trek to breakfast, we side-eyed Walter when he walked out the door. Me looking to find some something. In his eyes. In his walk. In the pores of his skin. Some sign. Any sign.
    • 2010 November 2, “Liberian Girl” [pseudonym] (commenter), “Hot Shot: Oprah [Winfrey] Visits Michael Jackson’s Children”, in That Grape Juice.net[7], archived from the original on 25 May 2017:
      But I do have to side-eye the fact that the interviews w/ the Jacksons are being aired in between episodes that deal with men being molested as children…it seems like it was intentional and that ish ain’t cool.
    • 2014, Z. Rider, chapter 7, in Ashley Davis, editor, Suckers: A Horror Novel, Erwin, Tenn.: Dark Ride Publishing, →ISBN, page 62:
      The show went well. Not the best on the tour, not even the best in the past month, but it went off without a hitch, despite everyone on the crew side-eyeing Dan, looking for him to start acting strange again.
    • 2018 April 12, Alex Prewitt, “Taylor Hall Raises the Bar for Himself, Devils in MVP-Caliber Season”, in Sports Illustrated[8], New York, N.Y.: Meredith Corporation, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 April 2018:
      Seven months after his poolside epiphany, the 26-year-old [Taylor Hall] is sitting on a couch at Newark's Prudential Center, slugging from a protein shake and side-eying NHL Network highlights on the television.
    • 2019 June 1, Nosheen Iqbal, “TLC: ‘I will never forget the day we were millionaires for five minutes’”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian[9], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 10 July 2019:
      "She'll be all right", says [Tionne] Watkins, side-eyeing [Rozonda] Thomas with a cat-like grin.
    • 2019 June 16, Gretchen Reynolds, “You may not need to take 10,000 steps a day to reduce risk of heart disease, finds women’s study”, in The Independent[10], London: Independent News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 1 July 2019:
      A new study of activity and mortality in older women [...] also side-eyes the validity, utility and origin of the common 10,000-steps-a-day exercise goals built into so many of our phones and activity monitors and suggests, instead, that any moving, whether or not it counts as exercise, may help to extend people’s lives.

Alternative forms

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Translations

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See also

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  • squint (especially the second sense)