blear-eyedadj.
/ˈblɪərˈʌɪd/ 1. literal. Having blear eyes.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of eye > [adjective] > bleary > having bleary eyes
blear-eyed1382
bleared1500
bleary-eyed1927
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Lev. xxi. 20 If crokid-rigge or bleereyed [a1425 blereiȝed].
1393 W. Langland Piers Plowman C. xx. 306 Þorw smoke and smorþre..Til he be bler-eyed oþer blynde.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. FFFvii Lya was blere eyed and myght nat se clerely.
1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 133 The iuice [of Aygrene]..is good for them that are blare eyed.
1642 T. Taylor God's Judgem. i. i. ii. 3 Those who..being bleare eyed and tender sighted are rather dazled and dimmed by the Sunnes beames.
1787 J. Wolcot in Wks. (1812) I. 458 The wrinkled blear-eyed, good old Granny.
1798 R. Southey Eng. Eclogues ii Blear-eyed Moll The collier woman.
1935 W. S. Maugham Don Fernando xi. 232 You have painted me ugly and blear-eyed.
2. figurative. Having the mental vision dimmed; dull of perception, short-sighted.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > imperfect perception > [adjective]
thestera900
thestria900
blindc1000
blindfoldc1450
blinkard?1528
purblind1533
blinded1535
blear-eyed1561
obcaecate1568
unilluminated1579
fonda1592
blear-witted1600
short-sighted1622
baby-blind1627
obcaecated1641
misty-brained1649
twilighta1677
blindfolded1730
short-sighted1736
unpliable1769
misty1820
myopical1830
visionless1856
myopic1891
blinkered1897
1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. (1634) iii. xvii. 395 The judgement of God farre surmounteth the bleare-eyed sight of men.
1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius 221 Their bleare eyed dulnes.
1663 J. Spencer Disc. Prodigies (1665) 340 Men quickly hated this blear-ey'd Religion.
1687 J. Dryden Hind & Panther ii. 61 That ev'n the blear-ey'd sects may find her out.
1927 W. B. Yeats October Blast 15 Nor blear-eyed wisdom out of midnight oil.
Derivatives
blear-ˈeyedness n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of eye > [noun] > bleariness
bleariness1398
blear-eyednessc1440
blearing1542
blearness1543
blear1603
lippitude1626
blearedness1678
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > imperfect perception > [noun]
thesterc897
blindness971
obscurationa1550
twilight1610
ablepsy1616
obcaecationa1631
mind-blindness1649
blear-eyedness1653
short-sightedness1670
blearedness1678
crassitude1679
myopia1801
purblindness1834
bat-mindedness1869
myopism1880
short sighta1888
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 39 Blerydnesse [1499 blere iyednesse], lippitudo.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Chacie, bleare-eyednesse; a running, or waterishnesse of the eyes.
1653 J. Gauden Hieraspistes 96 That darkness and bleareyednesse, which prejudice and perverseness carry with them.
1877 F. C. L. Wraxall tr. V. Hugo Les Misérables i Contemporary admiration is blear-eyedness.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1887; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.1382