wall-eyed

A fish has a wall-eyed appearance.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Having a condition where one or both eyes turn outward: "wall-eyed" describes a person whose eyes are turned outward, away from the nose, often giving a wide-eyed appearance. This is also known as exotropia.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • She was born wall-eyed, which required special glasses to correct her vision. (Describes a person with eyes that turn outward.)
  • The wall-eyed cat seemed to look past its owner rather than directly at him. (Describes an animal with outward-turning eyes.)

Advanced Usage

• "wall-eyed stare": a fixed, wide-eyed gaze often associated with surprise or confusion, though the term can also refer to the literal eye condition.
  • He gave me a wall-eyed stare when I asked him the question. (He looked at me with a wide, unfocused gaze.)

Variants and Related Words

• Wall-eye (noun): the condition of being wall-eyed; also, a fish of the perch family (often spelled "walleye") with large, prominent eyes.
  • The doctor diagnosed the child with wall-eye. (The medical condition of outward-turning eyes.)

Synonyms

• Exotropic: having eyes that turn outward (medical term).
• Strabismic: relating to strabismus, a condition where the eyes are not aligned.

Related Idioms

• "wall-eyed drunk" (informal): extremely intoxicated, to the point of having a glazed or unfocused look.
  • After three bottles of wine, he was completely wall-eyed drunk. (He was so drunk his eyes appeared unfocused.)

Notes

• The term "wall-eyed" is distinct from "walleye," which is a type of fish. In common usage, "wall-eyed" is primarily an adjective describing the eye condition, while "walleye" is a noun for the fish or the medical condition (though "walleye" can also be used synonymously with "wall-eyed" in some contexts).