rolled my eyes

Meaning

1. 1phraseintransitive

   Moved your eyes upward in a circle to show annoyance, boredom, or disbelief (said by the speaker about themselves).

   Grammar: This is the past tense form of 'roll one's eyes'. The possessive changes with the subject: I rolled my eyes, you rolled your eyes, she rolled her eyes.

   Patterns

   • roll one's eyes
   • roll one's eyes at someone
   • roll one's eyes at something

   When my brother said he was going to be a millionaire by next year, I rolled my eyes.

   I rolled my eyes at the suggestion that we should work all weekend.

   She told the same joke again, and I rolled my eyes at my friend across the table.

Word forms

Common combinations

roll one's eyes at someone

She rolled her eyes at her brother when he started singing loudly.

roll one's eyes in annoyance

He rolled his eyes in annoyance at the delay.

roll one's eyes dramatically

The teenager rolled her eyes dramatically when her mother asked about homework.

Synonyms and how they differ

sigh

Sighing also shows annoyance or boredom, but it involves breathing out audibly, not moving your eyes.

eye-roll

An eye-roll is the noun for the action; 'rolled my eyes' is the verb phrase describing doing it.

Word family

eye-roll noun

An act of rolling one's eyes.

eye-rolling adjective

Describing something that causes people to roll their eyes, often because it is silly or annoying.

Commonly confused: rolled my eyes or rolled my eyes?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “rolled my eyes”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words