walleyed

W4A1L1L1E1Y4E1D2
/ˈwɔːlaɪd/

adjective

Having eyes with a pale-coloured iris.

Opposite
cross-eyed
OriginMiddle English wawil-eghed ← Old Norse vagl-eygr →
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Meanings

adjectivewalleyed (comparative more walleyed, superlative most walleyed)

comparative more walleyed · superlative most walleyed · alternative wall-eyed

  1. Having eyes with a pale-coloured iris.
  2. Having eyes of different colours.
  3. Suffering from exotropia.

    […] this is the bloodiest shame, The wildest savagery, the vilest stroke, That ever wall-eyed wrath or staring rage Presented to the tears of soft remorse.

    c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]
    2 more examples

    A nose of land ran out into the sea from Tanoo and split the village into two parts; the parts diverged at a slight angle, so that the village of Tanoo had a wall-eyed stare out over the sea.

    1941, Emily Carr, chapter 2, in Klee Wyck

    The little man only came up to Poplavsky's shoulder, but he reduced him to mortal terror with his fang, his knife and his walleyed squint, and he had an air of cool, calculating energy.

    1967, Mikhail Bulgakov, translated by Michael Glenny, The Master and Margarita, Signet, Book One, Chapter 18, p. 197
  4. Having bulging eyes.

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivehaving divergent strabismus

Opposite
cross-eyed

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Old Norseauga
  2. Old Norseeygr
  3. Old Norsevagl“speck or beam in the eye”
  4. Old Norsevagl-eygr“having speckled eyes”
  5. Middle Englishwolden-eiged“having very light-colored eyes; having parti-colored eyes”
  6. Middle Englishwawil-eghed
  7. Englishwalleyed

Inherited from Middle English wawil-eghed, Middle English wolden-eiged (“having very light-colored eyes; having parti-colored eyes”), from Old Norse vagl-eygr (“having speckled eyes”), in turn from Old Norse vagl (“speck or beam in the eye”) (compare Icelandic vagl (“film over the eye”), Swedish vagel (“stye in the eye”)) and Old Norse eygr, from Old Norse auga, which is cognate to English eye.

More words from Middle English, Old Norse

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian с изпъкнали очи
  • с изпъкнали очи (s izpăknali oči)having bulging eyes
Dutch met glasogen, ogen met verschillende kleuren
  • met glasogenhaving eyes with a pale coloured iris
  • ogen met verschillende kleurenhaving eyes of different colour
  • ogen met divergent strabismesuffering from exotropia
  • uitpuilende ogenhaving bulging eyes
French vairon, strabisme divergent
  • vaironhaving eyes of different colour
  • strabisme divergentsuffering from exotropia
  • yeux globuleuxhaving bulging eyes
German Birkauge
  • Birkaugehaving eyes with a pale coloured iris
Cite this entry
APA

walleyed. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/walleyed

MLA

“walleyed.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/walleyed. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “walleyed,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/walleyed.

Source: walleyed on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.