dewy-eyed

dewy-eyed

English

Alternative forms

• dew-eyed (archaic)

Etymology

dewy +‎ eyed

Adjective

dewy-eyed (comparative more dewy-eyed, superlative most dewy-eyed)

1. 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, The Call of the North, ch. 1:

     One she saw clearly—a dewy-eyed, lovely woman who murmured loving, broken words.

   • 2000, Romesh Ratnesar, "The Victory Lap?," Time Europe, 12 June:

     Bill Clinton has never shied away from displays of dewy-eyed, lip-biting sentimentality.

2. (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."

3. Excessively nostalgic.

Synonyms

• (having eyes with a moist, glistening appearance): teary-eyed, misty-eyed
• (naive, innocent): callow, green, wet behind the ears

References

• dewy-eyed at OneLook Dictionary Search