eye-watering

comparative more eye-watering · superlative most eye-watering · alternative eyewatering

1. Having an odour, vapours or smoke which causes irritation to the eyes.
2. figurativelyHaving an extremely bad odour.

   Synonyms: foul-smelling

3. figurativelySo expensive that (figuratively) it would make one's eyes water.

   Both residents and drivers know that the cost of the current proposals to improve the A628 from Mottram all the way to the Flouch Inn has already reached eye-watering billions.

   2021 November 17, “Open Access: Hope for Woodhead”, in RAIL, number 944, page 64

   3 more examples

   Toyota is developing a hydrogen fuel cell car, but the research and development costs are eye-watering. By contrast, a British firm, Riversimple, is producing a cheap, compact two-seater, which will probably come to dominate the small car market, particularly for drivers who cannot plug in a car at home.

   2021 January 25, Chris Barker, Dr Robin Russell-Jones, “Electric cars are not the only green solution”, in The Guardian

   With food prices at a record high, inflation at its highest in three decades, fuel prices topping $3 a litre and eye-watering housing costs, Labour has been paying for it in the polls.

   2022 May 13, Eva Corlett, “As the shine comes off NZ Labour, Grant Robertson hopes his budget can steady the ship”, in The Guardian

   “That means decisions of eye-watering difficulty,” he said. “Every single one of those decisions – whether reductions in spending or increases in tax – will be shaped through core, compassionate Conservative values that will prioritise the needs of the most vulnerable.”

   2022 October 17, Jeremy Hunt, quotee, “Jeremy Hunt shreds Truss’s economic plans in astounding U-turn on tax”, in The Guardian

   Synonyms: 5-star, big-ticket, chargeful, cheap at half the price, costful, costly, cost-prohibitive, fancy

4. figurativelyOf a shocking or surprising nature.

   Synonyms: astounding, astonishing, awesome, random, shocking, spontaneous, sudden, surprise