eye-opener

plural eye-openers · alternative eye opener · alternative eyeopener

1. literallySomething that causes the eyes to open, or that opens the eyes.
2. informalSomething that provides a sudden insight, or makes something clear that was previously mysterious.
3. idiomaticinformalA startling or shocking revelation.

   A visit to the slaughterhouse was a real eye-opener to anyone who thought they understood where their food came from.

   1 more example

   That was a very big eye-opener for me, after being very cocooned, living most of my life in the city where I was born and raised.

   2013, R. Heppner, The Lost Leaders: How Corporate America Loses Women Leaders

4. euphemisticinformalA strong alcoholic beverage, especially one consumed in the morning.

   As soon as I got on the plane I asked the flight attendant for an eye-opener, but all he had to offer was orange juice.

5. informalsometimes objectifyingAn attractive woman.

   Near-synonym: eye candy

   2 more examples

   Seems appropriate that Ann Miller should be in Columbia's "Reveille With Beverly." We've never seen anyone capable of "showing a leg" more attractively. At close range, too, she's an eye-opener.

   1943 August 19, “It's high time you met ANN MILLER”, in Good Morning, number 106, London: Royal Navy Submarine Branch, →OCLC, page 1

   A woman cycling in a skirt was a hazard to herself and an eye-opener for men on the sidelines every time she raised a leg or fell off her bike.

   1998, Charles Panati, Sexy Origins and Intimate Things, New York: Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 274

   Synonyms: eye candy