as in shock
informal
something that shows or teaches you something in a surprising way
Traveling abroad can be a real eye-opener to many people. They say her biography is quite an eye-opener.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of eye-opener
Each team scored in Wednesday’s opening 2 minutes and 5 seconds, for a 1-1 eye-opener.
—
Cam Inman, Mercury News, 16 May 2025
According to Bush Hager, that article was quite the eye-opener for her mother.
—Ryan Brennan, Miami Herald, 10 Apr. 2025
That audition in that role is a big eye-opener for what Broberg can be going forward, and what the Blues can be with him.
—Dom Luszczyszyn, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2025
On Donovan’s third day in the big leagues, there was a bench-clearing situation between the Cardinals and New York Mets, and that was an eye-opener to him.
—Jeremy Rutherford, New York Times, 27 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for eye-opener
Cam Inman, Mercury News, 16 May 2025
According to Bush Hager, that article was quite the eye-opener for her mother.
—Ryan Brennan, Miami Herald, 10 Apr. 2025
That audition in that role is a big eye-opener for what Broberg can be going forward, and what the Blues can be with him.
—Dom Luszczyszyn, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2025
On Donovan’s third day in the big leagues, there was a bench-clearing situation between the Cardinals and New York Mets, and that was an eye-opener to him.
—Jeremy Rutherford, New York Times, 27 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for eye-opener
Recent Examples of Synonyms for eye-opener
Noun
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In Kevin Day’s case, the initial sense of shock eventually gave way to tears in, of all places, his local supermarket.—
Stuart James,
New York Times,
7 June 2025
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Narrating what happened with the boy in the autopsy room turned out to be wholly different from experiencing it; the riptide shock of that moment slowed to a largo of painful excavation.—
Danielle Ofri,
New Yorker,
7 June 2025
Noun
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Even still, King says that being chosen for Reese’s Book Club was a surprise.—
Carly Tagen-Dye,
People.com,
3 June 2025
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This strike, as far east as Siberia and as far north as the Arctic, was only a surprise insofar as Ukrainian security forces cleverly organized it in a way that the Russians could not effectively counter.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
3 June 2025
Noun
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Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks star in this juicy domestic thriller where every revelation brings new questions about what really happened the night of the murder.—
Emily Blackwood,
People.com,
3 June 2025
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Aziza is, in many ways, the audience surrogate, which requires Young to really be present with her venom-spewing costars as new lies and revelations are unfurled.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
3 June 2025
Noun
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One of Wishman’s most Sapphic films is this gritty black-and-white sexploitation shocker about assassins who weasel their way into an apartment shared by two lesbians in order to kill a foreign dignitary.—
Erik Piepenburg,
New York Times,
2 June 2025
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Tuesday’s Division 1 baseball semifinals produced a shocker.—
Eric Sondheimer,
Los Angeles Times,
28 May 2025
Noun
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The hope is that Mayer can provide a similar jolt with Bregman out, then translate that into a full-time MLB gig.—
Peter Chawaga,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 May 2025
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The tariff jolt on Friday comes after markets this week have already been floundering under pressure from the bond market.—
John Towfighi,
CNN Money,
23 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Eye-opener.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/eye-opener. Accessed 13 Jun. 2025.
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