Definition

1. Adjective:
   • (Of eyes) fully open or extended: Describing eyes that are opened very widely, often due to surprise, amazement, or intense focus.
   • Exhibiting childlike simplicity and credulity: Describing a person or their expression as showing naive innocence, wonder, or a lack of worldly experience.

Usage and Examples

• Describing physical eye appearance:

  • The wide-eyed child stared at the magician in disbelief.
  • She gave a wide-eyed look of shock when she heard the news.

• Describing an innocent or naive attitude:

  • He was a wide-eyed optimist when he first moved to the city.
  • The tourists listened to the guide's stories with wide-eyed fascination.

Advanced Usage and Nuances

• "Wide-eyed innocence": A common phrase emphasizing pure, uncorrupted naivety.

  • She approached the complex political debate with a sense of wide-eyed innocence.

• "Wide-eyed wonder": A phrase used to describe a state of awe or astonishment.

  • The museum exhibit filled the children with wide-eyed wonder.

Variants and Related Words

• Round-eyed (adj): Very similar in meaning, often used interchangeably with 'wide-eyed' to describe surprise or wonder.

  • They listened in round-eyed wonder to the tale.

• Dewy-eyed (adj): Emphasizes a soft, innocent, sentimental, or naively optimistic quality.

  • She had a dewy-eyed view of romantic relationships.

Synonyms

• Astonished: Filled with sudden wonder or surprise.
• Innocent: Lacking knowledge of worldly or unpleasant things.
• Credulous: Having too great a readiness to believe things; gullible.
• Agape: (Of the mouth) wide open, often used figuratively for eyes in a state of wonder.

Antonyms

• Jaded: Bored or lacking enthusiasm after having had too much of something.
• Skeptical: Not easily convinced; having doubts.
• Worldly-wise: Experienced and knowledgeable about the practical aspects of life.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• With eyes like saucers: An idiom describing someone whose eyes are opened extremely wide in surprise or amazement.

  • He stared at the diamond with eyes like saucers.

• To look with fresh eyes: To look at something from a new, often more innocent or unbiased, perspective.

  • After her trip, she was able to look at her hometown with fresh eyes.

Adjective

1. (used of eyes) fully open or extended
   • stared with wide eyes
2. exhibiting childlike simplicity and credulity
   • childlike trust
   • dewy-eyed innocence
   • listened in round-eyed wonder