: 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.
Finding the middle ground between cozy and witchy, Ratajkowski injected her own brand of downtown cool into her festive fall outfit with a pair of outsized, bug-eyed sunglasses. — Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 21 Sep. 2026 In 1990, Cole meets Jeffrey Goines, a fellow mental institution patient played with bug-eyed slipperiness by Brad Pitt, whose performance nabbed him his first Oscar nod. — Sara Netzley, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Sep. 2026 Olivia Miles, the rookie point guard for the Minnesota Lynx, wears a pair of bug-eyed sports goggles, black and bulbous, sometimes held in place by a thick strap that runs through her luxuriant Afro. — Louisa Thomas, New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2026 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 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

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Cite this Entry

“Bug-eyed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bug-eyed. Accessed 4 Oct. 2026.

Kids Definition

bug-eyed

adjective
-ˌīd
: having the eyes bulging (as in astonishment)
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