65 Ways to Describe Sight and Eyes in Your Writing

 

Ever since William Shakespeare said:

“The Eyes are the window to your soul”

… people have been trying to decode ever glitter, wrinkle, squint, and gaze that passes from those orbs. When I read a description that catches my attention, I copy it down, using it later to remind me there’s more to a character’s eyes than ‘she looked’ or ‘his blue eyes’.

Here’s my list of 65 (and growing):

A note: These are for inspiration only. They can’t be copied because they’ve been pulled directly from an author’s copyrighted manuscript (intellectual property is immediately copyrighted when published).

Sight

• Eyed me as though his bullshit meter was ticking in the red zone.
• He blinked as his eyes adjusted.
• an alertness in the eyes, behind the glasses that sat crookedly on the nose
• Cold gaze fixed on the anxious young man
• Cast a skeptical eye
• Sure, we know that, said Herrera, taking off his glasses to inspect the lenses.

• Gaffan saw Marley’s eyes open wide in surprise and recognition.
• Eyes bleary from surveillance and the two-hour drive
• Vision narrowed to a pinprick
• Eyes clouded
• eyes locked on like magnets
• four pairs of eyes blinked in unison
• studied her with a predator’s unwavering attention
• blinked a couple of times
• Squinted out into the audience
• eyes narrowed to slits
• Narrowed his eyes
• eyes locked in a shared understanding
• yellow rimmed eyes narrowing
• peer sightlessly at a wall
• eyes turned inward
• shook her head and stared at the pool
• Staring sightlessly into the darkness
• Stared off into the crowd but didn’t seem to see anything
• Stared into the distance
• Fixed expression
• Looked at a place somewhere over his shoulder
• focused on an empty space in the air between them
• eyes narrowed, she got a vertical wrinkle between her eyebrows. Her lips pursed slightly.
• Their eyes met, but he broke it off
• meaningful eye contact
• studied Hood with her level gaze
• risked a peek
• she screwed her eyes shut
• stared brazenly into her eyes
• opened her eyes wide
• dark eyes radiated a fierce, uncompromising intelligence
• rubbed raw eyes
• eyes felt scratchy and I was jittery with coffee and raw from sleeplessness.
• His eyes flickered past me.
• His eyes were never still and he never looked at me except in passing
• Caught her peeking at Hawk sideways out of a narrow corner of her right eye.
• Watching the bystanders from the edge of his vision
• Looked him over with the respect men who have not served give those who have

Eyes

• Ferret-like eyes
• Dark eyes smoldering
• Lined from squinting into too many suns
• Eyes were dark pools of fear
• Flint-eyed
• looked like hell—purple bags under her eyes,
• eyes carried a mixture of shock and barely contained anger
• bright eyes of an optimist
• one eye clouded with a cataract
• wounded eyes
• tired eyes
• his body felt heavy
• eyes were dark, cupped by fleshy pouches
• wire-rimmed glasses
• Slate-blue eyes
• Dark solemn eyes
• Spark in his grey eyes
• Steely-eyed
• Huge blue eyes that gave her a startled look
• black circles beneath her eyes had become bruises
• Wide-spread aquamarine eyes
• Beady-eyed
• brown eyes wearing reading glasses
• Piercing stare
• Close set black eyes
• Watery blue eyes
• Memorable only for his bleak eyes
• Nets of wrinkles at the corners of her eyes
• Eyes flat as little pebbles
• Steely eyed
• long eyelashes
• laughing eyes
• predatory eyes
• Eyes were red-rimmed from allergies
• Under heavy lids; heavy-lidded
• Sensitive brown eyes
• Eyes sunk into his sockets
• Competitive, fixed, dead-eyed, and querulous stare of people who weren’t getting far enough fast enough
• I’ve-seen-it-all eyes
• bedroom eyes, dark hair falling into them
• Crows feet radiated from corners of eyes
• the light fades from his eyes until they are dark and empty
• eyes were brown in the middle and bloodshot everywhere else
• stared through him
• Looked left and right before starting
• Pingponging his gaze between A and B
• His glance, as conspiratorial as a wink
•  eyes watched her the way a tiger watched a bunny
• Shadow passed over his eyes
• Flicker in his eyes
• Said without looking at him
• looked for a common theme, a thread of some sort
• She frowned–couldn’t recall the incident
• Heard little and cared less
• Hovering over her shoulder
• His eyes flattened
• His face hardened in concentration
• Thinking about my conversation with the old detective
• shot a look over the top of his glasses
• Squinted at the sun
• Arched an eye brow
• Looked at me with a strangled expression

Eyebrows

• Bushy eyebrows
• eyebrows of white steel wool
• a single bushy bar above the eyes

More descriptors for writing:

Lots of them

48 Collections to Infuse Your Writing

What is a ‘Hacker’

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Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular prehistoric fiction saga, Man vs. Nature which explores seminal events in man’s evolution one trilogy at a time. She is also the author of the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers and Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. Her non-fiction includes over a hundred books on integrating tech into education, reviews as an Amazon Vine Voice,  a columnist for NEA Today, and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. Look for her next prehistoric fiction, Savage Land, Winter 2024.

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