Meaning & use
beer goggles
Last updated
Meaning
nounpluralinformalhumorous
The effect of alcohol that makes people seem more attractive to you than they really are.
Grammar: Always plural, with 'wear' or 'have': he was wearing beer goggles.
Patterns
- wear beer goggles
- through beer goggles
- have the beer goggles on
He swore she was gorgeous, but he was clearly wearing beer goggles.
I met him at a party, and I think the beer goggles were on.
The photo looked so different in daylight that she blamed the beer goggles.
Common combinations
- wear beer goggles
- You must have been wearing beer goggles when you asked her out.
- have the beer goggles on
- He had the beer goggles on all night.
- through beer goggles
- Everyone looks better through beer goggles.
- blame the beer goggles
- Don't blame the beer goggles; you liked him sober too.
Synonyms and how they differ
- rose-tinted glasses
- Rose-tinted glasses describes seeing something in too positive a light in general, while beer goggles refers specifically to attraction under alcohol.
- illusion
- Illusion is a neutral word for false impression, but it lacks the joking, drinking-related tone of beer goggles.
Word family
Commonly confused: beer goggles or rose-colored glasses?
beer goggles vs rose-colored glasses
These describe optimism about life or a situation, not attraction caused by drinking.
Practice
Which situation is best described by 'beer goggles'?
Choose one answer.
Beer goggles is the joking idea that alcohol makes people look more attractive. The other options describe literal glasses or general optimism.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “beer goggles”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.