raise eyebrows
English
raised eyebrows
Pronunciation
Audio (AU) (file)
Verb
raise eyebrows (third-person singular simple present raises eyebrows, present participle raising eyebrows, simple past and past participle raised eyebrows)
- (idiomatic) To cause surprise.
- 1995 May 21, Steven Levy, “The Unabomber and David Gelernter”, in The New York Times, ISSN 0362-4331:
- How did we lose the future? Gelernter's answer may raise some eyebrows. He believes that the United States realized the fair's predictions of a technological and economic utopia—and the country subsequently imploded with its own success.
- 2021 June 29, Phil McNulty, “England 2-0 Germany”, in BBC Sport:
- Southgate's team selection raised eyebrows when he decided to leave the creative talents of Grealish and Phil Foden on the bench and showed huge faith in Arsenal teenager Bukayo Saka by starting him after his fine performance against the Czechs.
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- (idiomatic) To cause mild disapproval.
- 2022 July 27, Tamara Hardingham-Gill, “New Croatia bridge redraws map of Adriatic coast”, in CNN:
- The fact that a Chinese state-owned company was awarded the contract to build the structure also raised eyebrows.
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- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see raise, eyebrows.
Related terms
- eyebrow-raising
- raise one's eyebrows
Translations
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