bug-eyed

adjective

ˈbəg-ˌīd How to pronounce bug-eyed (audio)
: having the eyes bulging (as with fright)

Examples of bug-eyed in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
One attendee was decked out in a T-shirt featuring a bug-eyed alien playing electric guitar, but for everyone else in the room, business attire was the order of the day. — Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 6 Aug. 2026 To date, Zoox’s bug-eyed, boxy robotaxi has driven over 3 million miles on public roads. — Bloomberg, Mercury News, 5 Aug. 2026 There’s a bug-eyed rabbit, a blue donkey and several variations of what appear to be skulls. — Ryan Steven Green, Los Angeles Times, 29 June 2026 In his weirdest picture—the late, baroque, campy Allegory of Faith—a bug-eyed female figure is shown clutching her chest, one foot balanced perilously on a globe, while a snake gushing blood from its jaws gyrates in the foreground. — Clare Bucknell, Harpers Magazine, 23 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for bug-eyed

Word History

First Known Use

1872, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bug-eyed was in 1872

Rhymes for bug-eyed

See All Rhymes for bug-eyed

Browse Nearby Words

bugeye
bug-eyed
bugfish
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Bug-eyed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bug-eyed. Accessed 12 Aug. 2026.

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Kids Definition

bug-eyed

adjective
-ˌīd
: having the eyes bulging (as in astonishment)
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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