side-eye

noun

ˈsīd-ˌī 

variants or less commonly side eye

plural side-eyes also side eyes

: a sidelong glance or gaze (as of scorn, suspicion, disapproval, or veiled curiosity)

The guy who stole your heart as the class clown can seem like just a clown out of his original context, like when people are giving him side-eye for cracking lame jokes in the hostess line.

—Lauren Panariello

—often used with the

… is super quiet, so your roommate won't give you the side-eye every time you turn it on.

—Daniel Boan

… the singular focus on results washes away concerns about getting the side-eye from a colleague judging you for not being in your cubicle …

—Jack O'Laughlin, quoted in The Chicago Tribune

side-eye verb, transitive + intransitive

side-eyed; side-eyeing or side-eying; side-eyes

She wears clothes that would have Kerry Washington's Olivia Pope side-eyeing in envy.

—Kevin Fallon

Examples of side-eye in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Social-media users have been left in stitches by a golden retriever’s sassy reaction to his new puppy siblings, leaving many people lauding his iconic side-eye. —Alyce Collins, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2025

Their speciality was sophistication with an attitude, epitomized by a portrait of Auerbach (a.k.a. pit) giving viewers a knowing side-eye from under a veil. —Sheldon Pearce, New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2025

Although the show was opened by the Super Fly God himself, some attendees were clearly only seated for the headliner, side-eyeing the hyperbolic lyrics about cooking bricks and live wrestling stunts. —Demicia Inman, VIBE.com, 17 Oct. 2025

And as for anyone side-eyeing her mid-flight routine? —Essence, 29 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1797, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for side-eye

• abscissae
• alibi
• alkali
• alumni
• amoebae
• amplify
• annuli
• beautify
• brachii
• butterfly
• calculi
• certify