as in stares
to take a look with the eyes narrowed (as because of difficulty seeing)
He squinted in her direction, but couldn't make her out with the sun behind her.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of squints
Michael Ruiz, FOXNews.com, 10 Sep. 2025
Byrne has never been better, sharper, or more intimidating as a screen presence, carrying the movie with squints and frowns.
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 6 Aug. 2025
Allegra Goodman, New Yorker, 4 Jan. 2026
Wiesmair squints at his smartphone, which is logged on to a database of European moth species.
—IEEE Spectrum, 2 Oct. 2025
Noun
And in a third, the gaunt 30-year-old killer flexes, purses his lips and squints.
—Michael Ruiz, FOXNews.com, 10 Sep. 2025
Byrne has never been better, sharper, or more intimidating as a screen presence, carrying the movie with squints and frowns.
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 6 Aug. 2025
Verb
Meanwhile, Charles squints at the phone.
—Allegra Goodman, New Yorker, 4 Jan. 2026
Wiesmair squints at his smartphone, which is logged on to a database of European moth species.
—IEEE Spectrum, 2 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for squints
Noun
-
Apostel included several selfies of herself and Cruz showing off their sophisticated looks.—
Charna Flam,
PEOPLE,
8 Nov. 2025
-
The Tease… Without the Payoff Throughout the night, Grande, Erivo, and the cast teased exclusive looks at new film clips and musical moments — but the live audience didn’t end up seeing them.—
Haley Kluge,
Variety,
7 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Another stares straight ahead, revealing no emotion, a mystery deepened by the bags under her eyes and the safety pin stabbed through her nose.—
Hua Hsu,
New Yorker,
13 Dec. 2025
-
In making the documentary, Craig stayed true to his and his brother’s body of work, which stares with unblinking eyes at the repercussions of violence.—
Jim Hemphill,
IndieWire,
9 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
Wide-eyed gazes and blotchy skin.—
Jacqui Palumbo,
CNN Money,
17 Dec. 2025
-
Hinkey finds both viciousness and vulnerability within Red Feather, crafting, through his fierce physicality and long, unblinking gazes, a man aware of the world steadily leaving him behind.—
Kathryn VanArendonk,
Vulture,
1 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
The mother glances up and sees her daughter watching, and her expression becomes altogether less indulgent.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 Oct. 2025
-
Lina glances at the ceiling, brow furrowed.—
Hazlitt,
Hazlitt,
8 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Unfortunately, things took a dramatic turn at the end of the hour when Drew arrived at the church, drawing intense glares from nearly everyone in attendance.—
Andy Swift,
TVLine,
25 Sep. 2025
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Based on Alice Oseman's popular webcomic turned graphic novels, Heartstopper is loaded with longing glares, timid greetings, delicate touches, and all the definitive hallmarks of young love as two classmates fall for each other at Truham Grammar School for Boys.—
James Mercadante,
EW.com,
13 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
No one blinks an eye today at the kind of vivacious, confident woman Margaret Avery portrayed in The Color Purple.—
Diedre Johnson,
Entertainment Weekly,
18 Dec. 2025
-
Whichever side blinks is considered cowardly by the media, but probably not by the voters.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
10 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Dappled sunlight peers through the trees into living spaces designed to capture the gentle hues of sunrise and sunset.—
Sacbee.com,
Sacbee.com,
22 Nov. 2025
-
But Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave peers out onto the sea, home to the country’s Baltic Sea naval fleet, powerful electronic warfare systems, ground troops and missile systems.—
MSNBC Newsweek,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Lots of sheer and transparency in eveningwear, to peeks of skin here and there.—
Rhonda Richford,
Footwear News,
8 Oct. 2025
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She was poised, her speech impeccable, enthralling her audience with peeks at her life and her earlier visit to the lab.—
Ron Arias,
PEOPLE,
5 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Squints.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/squints. Accessed 9 Jan. 2026.
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