walleyed

[ wawl-ahyd ]

adjective

1. having eyes in which there is an abnormal amount of the white showing, because of divergent strabismus.
2. having large, staring eyes, as some fishes.
3. marked by excited or agitated staring of the eyes, as in fear, rage, frenzy, or the like:

   He stood there in walleyed astonishment.

4. having an eye or the eyes presenting little or no color, as the result of a light-colored or white iris or of white opacity of the cornea.

Word History and Origins

Origin of walleyed¹

1300–50; Middle English wawileghed, waugle eghed < Old Norse vagleygr, equivalent to vagl- (meaning uncertain; compare Icelandic vagl film over the eye) + -eygr -eyed; eye; compare Old English waldenīge

Example Sentences

There, they used to pick blueberries, hunt moose and partridges, and fish walleyed pike and trout.

From New York Times

She had also had a nervous breakdown or two, and sometimes, in repose, she got a kind of walleyed look that made me nervous.

From Literature

Made at a larger scale, these photographs, such as one closely cropped image of a walleyed young man on a bicycle, not only demonstrate Bey’s ability to heighten his subjects’ interiority with a careful attention to detail, but also heighten viewers’ awareness that they, like Bey, are sharing space with another person.

From New York Times

While savoring the life of a public man, Mr. Mondale loved to retreat by himself or with a friend to fish for trout or walleyed pike in Minnesota lakes reachable only by seaplane.

From New York Times

Is that really my walleyed gaze in the “Hollywood Squares” box on my laptop?

From New York Times