blue-eyed

blue-eyed — adjective

1. having blue-coloured irises; used to describe a person or animal whose eyes are

1.adjectiveA2
Definition

having blue-coloured irises; used to describe a person or animal whose eyes are a shade of blue

Example

The blue-eyed baby girl smiled at everyone who passed her crib.

attributive: blue-eyed + noun (baby girl)

Sirin brushed her blue-eyed cat's fur and gave it a small treat.

blue-eyed + animal noun (cat)

Common collocations
  • blue-eyed baby
  • blue-eyed girl
  • blue-eyed boy
  • blue-eyed man
  • blue-eyed woman
  • blue-eyed child
  • blue-eyed cat
  • blue-eyed dog
Synonyms
  • azure-eyed

    literary or poetic; very rare in everyday conversation

  • sapphire-eyed

    poetic; used in romantic or descriptive writing

Antonyms
  • brown-eyed

    describes a person with brown eyes, the most common eye colour worldwide

  • dark-eyed

    a broader term for someone whose eyes are brown or black

Grammar Patterns

blue-eyed + noun

be + blue-eyed

Common Mistakes

She has a blue eye baby.
She has a blue-eyed baby.
When a compound adjective like blue-eyed comes before a noun, it must be hyphenated. Without the hyphen the sentence becomes ungrammatical.

Word family

  • blue
    adjectiveA1
  • eye
    nounA1
  • brown-eyed
    adjectiveB1
  • green-eyed
    adjectiveB1

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

These words all describe a person's eye colour using the same '[colour]-eyed' compound pattern. Blue-eyed is the most common of these in English, partly because blue eyes are historically seen as striking or noteworthy in many cultures. Brown-eyed is the most neutral and statistically common descriptor, since brown is the most frequent eye colour worldwide. Green-eyed is less common and sometimes carries a poetic or envious connotation ('green-eyed monster' for jealousy). Dark-eyed is a broader term covering both brown and black irises, often used in literary descriptions. Learners should note that the hyphen is essential in attributive position: 'a blue-eyed woman' not 'a blue eye woman'. Outside of this compound pattern, you can also say 'She has blue eyes' — which is simpler and more common in casual conversation.

blue-eyed ↗brown-eyedgreen-eyeddark-eyed

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

Blue-eyed is a compound adjective formed from 'blue' (from Old English blǣwen, meaning the colour blue) and 'eyed' (from Old English ēaġe, meaning eye). The compound has been used in English since at least the 1500s to describe a person's appearance. Over time the pattern '[colour]-eyed' became productive, producing brown-eyed, green-eyed, dark-eyed, and others.