as in peered
to take a look with the eyes narrowed (as because of difficulty seeing)
He squinted in her direction, but couldn't make her out with the sun behind her.
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Recent Examples of squinted
Dressed in periwinkle, Annie took off her shoes in front of the sunflowers, sat down, squinted into the sunlight and smiled.
—
Théoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 11 Mar. 2026
Carson squinted at prices before hooking the fuel nozzle to the tank of his scarlet Buick.
—Rachel Swan, San Francisco Chronicle, 5 Mar. 2026
Giles cranked the boat back around, leaned out from behind the steering wheel and squinted past a bright glare on the water.
—Kelso Harper, Scientific American, 16 Dec. 2025
Amid the eucalyptus groves at Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz, local bug enthusiast Sasha Hernandez squinted through the draping green leaves, searching for flashes of black and orange — the wings of migratory monarch butterflies traveling from west of the Rocky Mountains.
—Olivia Maule, Mercury News, 6 Dec. 2025
The page squinted up at the nightingale, her dull feathers and stippled breast.
—Hazlitt, 19 Nov. 2025
The Babycatcher looked up at the sky and squinted.
—Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2025
Théoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 11 Mar. 2026
Carson squinted at prices before hooking the fuel nozzle to the tank of his scarlet Buick.
—Rachel Swan, San Francisco Chronicle, 5 Mar. 2026
Giles cranked the boat back around, leaned out from behind the steering wheel and squinted past a bright glare on the water.
—Kelso Harper, Scientific American, 16 Dec. 2025
Amid the eucalyptus groves at Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz, local bug enthusiast Sasha Hernandez squinted through the draping green leaves, searching for flashes of black and orange — the wings of migratory monarch butterflies traveling from west of the Rocky Mountains.
—Olivia Maule, Mercury News, 6 Dec. 2025
The page squinted up at the nightingale, her dull feathers and stippled breast.
—Hazlitt, 19 Nov. 2025
The Babycatcher looked up at the sky and squinted.
—Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for squinted
Verb
-
Noel peered into the small window in the door and knocked.—
Julie K. Brown,
Miami Herald,
25 Mar. 2026
-
At one hospital, Vitek peered into the mouth of a sick Russian teenager and saw the thick greyish-white membrane covering a third of his throat.—
Patricia Callahan,
ProPublica,
19 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Josh Whitman glanced at his phone for a moment Saturday night amid all of the hugging, celebrating and reflecting on Illinois’ 71-59 win over Iowa in the Elite Eight.—
Colleen Kane,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Mar. 2026
-
Mullins glanced up and saw two seconds on the clock, but time froze, the world stopped.—
Dom Amore,
Hartford Courant,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The blank walls stared at her, vacant pinholes made by previous tenants peering down like dark, shrunken pupils.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 Apr. 2026
-
The caribou stopped eating and curiously stared at him.—
Frank Glaser,
Outdoor Life,
1 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The drone's indicator blinked red; Pok raised his AR glasses and read- ily offered his irises for scanning.—
Danielle Parker,
CBS News,
2 Apr. 2026
-
Trump blinked, pausing and watering down many of those tariffs in response to extreme market pressure.—
Matt Egan,
CNN Money,
2 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Squinted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/squinted. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
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