owly-eyed

English

Alternative forms

• owly eied (obsolete)

Etymology

From owly +‎ eyed.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Adjective

owly-eyed (comparative more owly-eyed, superlative most owly-eyed)

1. Seeing better in darkness than light; day-blind or photosensitive.
   • 2005, Leslie Ernenwein, High Gun, Wheeler Publishing, published 2005, →ISBN, page 47:

     […] And he doesn't do no riding after dark near Dishpan Flats. Them poor misguided sodbusters ain't much account in most ways, but they're owly-eyed at night."

2. Wide-eyed, naturally or from an expression of fear, shock, surprise, or excitement.
   • 1961, John Myers Myers, I, Jack Swilling, Founder of Phoenix, Arizona, Hastings House, published 1961, page 118:

     Gabe looked owly-eyed at the fellow and then prissed his mouth.

3. (slang) Extremely drunk.
   • 1951, John Sanford, A Man Without Shoes, Black Sparrow Press, published 1982, →ISBN, page 252:

     Paul was owly-eyed by then, and he tried to hide it by saying, "Must've lost m' balance," but we noticed that when he clapped a fresh holt on, he was using both his graspers.

Synonyms

• (wide-eyed): moon-eyed, saucer-eyed, wide-eyed
• (extremely drunk): paralytic, wasted; see also Thesaurus:drunk

References

• The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia, The Century Co. (1897), Volume 5, page 265
• Jonathan Green, Cassell's Dictionary of Slang, Weidenfeld & Nicolson (2005), →ISBN, page 1055