not believe eyes

not believe one’s eyes
also, not believe one’s ears

Meaning

• shock or surprise at something you see or hear
• complete amazement at what is seen or heard
• to hear or see something stunning, unexpected, wonderful or out of the ordinary

Example Sentences

1. My fiancé is with someone else – I can’t believe my eyes.
2. Tommy couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the masked men running out of the bank.
3. I couldn’t believe my ears when the boss said thank you for our hard work. That never happens.
4. The teacher couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw Paul hand in some homework for the first time ever.
5. My boyfriend told me he loved me last night. I almost couldn’t believe my ears.
6. They couldn’t believe their eyes or ears when their numbers were called out for the lottery.
7. Have you seen Sam and Eve’s new house? It’s enormous, I couldn’t believe my eyes!
8. They have been trying for a baby for years, so they couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw the test was positive.
9. Look at it, you won’t believe your eyes.
10. I hardly believed my eyes when I opens my surprise gift.

Origin

There doesn’t seem to be any history available for this phrase, but it is more to do with seeing or hearing something surprising or shocking than the fact that your vision is poor, or that you are deaf.

The origin of the phrase is based on the fact that you can’t believe your eyes or ears because what you saw or heard is either a pure fantasy or an astonishing scene.

Variation

• not believe one’s eyes/ears
• hardly believe one’s eyes/ears
• barely believe one’s eyes/ears
• impossible to believe one’s eyes/ears

Ear, Eyes, Surprise

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