1
: having a wild expression in the eyes
2
: consisting of or favoring extreme or visionary ideas

Examples of wild-eyed in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Imagine a hardcore Black gangsta rapper going toe-to-toe with a wild-eyed white indie rock freak in makeup and shiny black leather pants, as the two repeatedly, gleefully, refer to one another using racial slurs. Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 21 May 2024 Alarmists often come off as wild-eyed and silly; deflationists, in contrast, get to seem coolheaded and dignified. Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2024 The aye-aye, with its permanent expression of wild-eyed shock and long, slender skeleton fingers, is as much a fright as an eyesore. Discover Magazine, 8 Jan. 2024 Better still, Austin was a fan of Abbey’s writing and a close friend of Doug Peacock, the Vietnam War veteran on whom Abbey based his wild-eyed saboteur George Hayduke in The Monkey Wrench Gang. Christopher Ketcham, Harper's Magazine, 1 Nov. 2023 This is serious business, as serious as when wild-eyed protesters descended on the homes of conservative Supreme Court justices following the Dobbs decision. Becket Adams, National Review, 24 Dec. 2023 This month, the 34-year-old actor is reprising his wacky, wild-eyed and highly energetic Grinch performance for the third year in a row. Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Nov. 2023 Oldboy is flashy, but there’s a moral and social disconnect between showing off Park’s undeniable chops and Choi Min-sik’s wild-haired, wild-eyed, poignant descent into madness. Armond White, National Review, 6 Sep. 2023 Those wild-eyed potential promises of the future can wait. Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 31 Aug. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wild-eyed.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1791, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of wild-eyed was in 1791

Dictionary Entries Near wild-eyed

Cite this Entry

“Wild-eyed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wild-eyed. Accessed 1 Jun. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!