31 English Idioms with EYE (Free PDF – Real Examples)

Knowing idioms can help you understand the meaning of text and speech more easily. As a Canadian native speaker, I love researching idioms to learn them deeply and sharing what I find with English learners and teachers around the world. This post will have you using common Idioms with eyes like a native speaker.

  • A Fresh Pair Of Eyes
  • All Eyes On Someone Or Something
  • Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder
  • Better Than A Sharp Stick In The Eye
  • Bird’s-Eye View
  • Can Hardly Believe (One’s) Eyes
  • Can’t Take My Eyes Off Someone Or Something
  • Catch One’s Eye
  • Cry One’s Eyes Out
  • Eagle Eye
  • Easy On The Eye
  • Eye Candy
  • Eyes In The Back Of One’s Head
  • Feast One’s Eyes On Something
  • Get A Black Eye
  • Get Stars In One’s Eyes
  • Give Someone The Eye
  • Have Eyes Bigger Than Your Stomach
  • Hit The Bullseye
  • In The Blink Of An Eye
  • In The Public Eye
  • It’s All Fun And Games Until Someone Loses An Eye
  • Keep An Eye On Someone or Something
  • Keep My Eyes Open
  • Keep One’s Eye On The Ball
  • Make Eyes At Someone
  • More Than Meets The Eye
  • Snake Eyes (Snake Idiom Post)
  • The Apple Of My
  • The Eye Of The Storm
  • Turn A Blind Eye To Someone Or Something

Keep reading for definitions, real example sentences, and more. Plus a free PDF download and video. Everything you need to know about English Idioms with eyes in one place.

Eye Idioms

A Fresh Pair Of Eyes – a new perspective or viewpoint can bring new insights or solutions to a problem. 

  • “Bringing in a new team member with a fresh pair of eyes helped us solve the problem.”

All Eyes On Someone Or Something – everyone is paying close attention or looking at someone or something. 

  • All eyes were on the president as he stepped up to the podium.”

Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder – people have different tastes, and what one person finds beautiful may not be what another person finds beautiful.

  • I can’t believe someone paid 1.8 million dollars for such an ugly painting. I guess it’s true they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” 

Better Than A Sharp Stick In The Eye – something is not ideal but still preferable to something worse. 

  • “I don’t like the new design, but it’s better than a sharp stick in the eye.”

Bird’s-Eye View – Can you guess what this idiom means? A bird’s eye is the eye of a bird.
View can mean – what you can see from a certain place

Birds can fly high in the sky, so we can imagine that a bird’s eye view must be a view of something from a high position looking down.

  • “I got a bird’s eye view of Toronto from the airplane. I was lucky to have a window seat.”
Idioms with EYE. Bird’s-Eye View

Black Eye – to get a black eye has a literal meaning if you are hit and bruised around your eye. As an idiom, it means to have one’s reputation damaged.

  • “The scandal gave the company a black eye and caused a drop in their stock value.”

Can Hardly Believe (One’s) Eyes – something is so unexpected or surprising that it is hard to believe it is happening or true.

  • “I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw the winning lottery numbers matched my ticket.”

Can’t Take My Eyes Off Someone Or Something – one is so captivated by someone or something that they cannot look away. 

  • “I couldn’t take my eyes off her, she was so beautiful.”

Catch One’s Eye – attract one’s attention, notice something

  • “I tried to catch my friend’s eye at the movie theater but she didn’t notice me.”

Cry One’s Eyes Out – to cry very hard or to be very sad. 

  • “She cried her eyes out when her dog passed away. It was a sad time.”

Eagle Eye – to have very good vision or to pay close attention to something. 

  • “The coach has an eagle eye and can spot potential in any player. He is also good at noticing your weak points and giving you helpful tips to improve.”

Easy On The Eye – something is pleasing to look at, usually used for physical attractiveness. 

  • “She was easy on the eye, with her long blonde hair, beautiful blue eyes, and sweet smile.”
Idioms with EYE. Easy On The Eye

Eye Candy – used to describe something or someone pleasing to look at, usually used for physical attractiveness.

  • The concert was fun! Good energy, great music, and lots of eye candy in the crowd.”

Eyes In The Back Of One’s Head – the ability to know what happens when one’s back is turned

  • “The teacher always knows what is going on in the classroom. She must have eyes in the back of her head.”

Feast One’s Eyes On Something – to look at something with pleasure or admiration.

  • “The headline said to “Feast your eyes on Nicolas Cage as Dracula in ‘Renfield’ trailer.” The author of the newspaper article was very impressed with Nicolas Cage’s look in the movie.” 

Get Stars In One’s Eyes – to become overly excited or optimistic about something, often to the point of losing sight of reality

  • “Many young people move to Hollywood with stars in their eyes but only a few make it big.”

Give Someone The Eye – to look at someone in a flirtatious or seductive manner. 

  • “She gave him the eye and he knew she was interested.”

Have Eyes Bigger Than Your Stomach – to want or try to eat more than one can actually eat. 

  • I had eyes bigger than my stomach when I ordered the triple burger combo. It looked too tasty but there is no way I can eat everything on the plate.”

*You can also find this idiom in my blog post 25 Common Idioms with Body Part (PDF download and Video).

Hit The Bullseye -The bullseye is the center of a target, this idiom means exactly correct or the best possible outcome. 

  • The boss looked really happy after my presentation, it seems like I hit the bullseye with that one. 

You can also find this idiom in my blog post https://worldenglishblog.com/common-cow-idioms/
>> Click the link to see 16 idioms with Cow, Bull, and Ox plus a helpful video. 

In The Blink Of An Eye – very quickly; in a short time

  • “Computers can do thousands of complex tasks in the blink of an eye.”

In The Public Eye –  to be known or noticed by the public, often as a result of being famous or in a position of power. 

  • “As a celebrity, he is always in the public eye.”
Idioms with EYE. In The Public Eye

It’s All Fun And Games Until Someone Loses An Eye – a situation, which seems initially fun and harmless, can quickly turn dangerous.

  • I don’t want your kids fooling around in the old barn again. It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye.”

Keep An Eye On Someone or Something – to pay attention to or watch someone or something closely.

  • “Can you keep an eye on the kids while I make dinner? They’re playing downstairs.”

Keep My Eyes Open – to pay extra attention to notice something, or try hard to find something

  • A: “Have you seen Bob this morning? I want to ask him something.”
    B: “I’ll keep my eyes open for him. If I see him I’ll tell him to find you.”

Keep One’s Eye On The Ball – to stay focused or pay attention to what is important

  • “This project is very important to the company so I need everyone to work hard and keep their eyes on the ball for the next few weeks.”
Idioms with EYE. Eye on the ball

Make Eyes At Someone – to look at someone in a flirtatious or seductive way. 

  • “She was making eyes at him across the room. It was obvious to everyone.”

More Than Meets The Eye – there is more to something than what is immediately visible or obvious. 

  • “There’s more to that painting than meets the eye, it’s worth a lot more than we thought.”

Snake Eyes – When you roll two six-sided dice both land on the number one. If someone says they rolled snake eyes or came up snake eyes it means that they had the worst possible result, their effort was totally unsuccessful. 

  • “I took a chance and invested a lot of money in cryptocurrency but sadly I came up snake eyes.”

You can also find this idiom and more in my blog post Idioms with Snake (Double Meanings and Example sentences)

The Apple Of My Eye – something or someone that is greatly valued and cherished

  • “My daughter is the apple of my eye, I love her more than anything.”
  • “Curtis loved his car, it was the apple of his eye in high school.”

You can also find this idiom and more in my blog post 14 Common Apple Idioms (Example sentences, Free PDF, Video)

The Eye Of The Storm – this is the center or calmest part of a serious situation. Often a small break from a strong storm that hasn’t finished yet.

  • “The company’s CEO is in the eye of the storm now, but this crisis is far from over.”
Idioms with EYE. The Eye Of The Storm

Turn A Blind Eye To Someone Or Something – to ignore or pretend not to notice something, often something that is wrong or illegal. 

  • “The government turned a blind eye to the illegal logging happening in the forest. I think they were getting bribes from the logging companies.”

Printable PDF EYE Idioms List

Download the Word List as a printable PDF. Great for teachers to use with private or group classes. PDF contains the live links from the post.↓

If you can think of some idioms that I left out, please tell me in the comments.

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