hollow-eyed

[hol-oh-ahyd] / ˈhɒl oʊˌaɪd /

ADJECTIVE

haggard

Synonyms

WEAK

ashen careworn drawn emaciated exhausted faded fagged fatigued fretted gaunt ghastly lank lean pale pallid pinched scraggy scrawny shrunken skinny spare starved thin tired wan wasted weak wearied worn worn-down wrinkled

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The pictures show a pallid, hollow-eyed man, resembling Poe, who’s sitting by the fire in his dressing gown when there comes a gentle “rapping, rapping” at the door.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025

“How’s it going?” he asked the hollow-eyed face on the screen.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 24, 2021

At the Minsk airport, Iraqi families slumped hollow-eyed in seats as the plane was delayed several hours.

From Washington Post • Nov. 21, 2021

Over the past year, the more my world shrank, and the gap between the sunset cruisers and the hollow-eyed homebound grew, the more I needed Influencers in the Wild.

From New York Times • Feb. 24, 2021

Scrap and junk, soot and oily grime and slumped shacks with people watching them, hollow-eyed.

From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi