as in shocks
informal
something that shows or teaches you something in a surprising way
Traveling abroad can be a real eye-opener to many people. They say her biography is quite an eye-opener.
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Recent Examples of eye-openers
These two series are eye-openers about some of the ways people outside our experiences live.
—
Colleen Kujawa, Chicago Tribune, 18 Mar. 2026
The closeness in my race and the closeness in the president's race last year were real eye-openers.
—ABC News, 2 Nov. 2025
Beringer noted the speed and physicality of Minnesota’s preseason games have been eye-openers.
—Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 14 Oct. 2025
But under the hood, there are some other eye-openers.
—Tony Blengino, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2025
Colleen Kujawa, Chicago Tribune, 18 Mar. 2026
The closeness in my race and the closeness in the president's race last year were real eye-openers.
—ABC News, 2 Nov. 2025
Beringer noted the speed and physicality of Minnesota’s preseason games have been eye-openers.
—Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 14 Oct. 2025
But under the hood, there are some other eye-openers.
—Tony Blengino, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for eye-openers
Noun
-
The worry looming over the economy Earlier this month, Dimon had also warned in his shareholder letter that the war in Iran risks oil and commodity price shocks that could keep inflation sticky and push interest rates higher than the market now expects.—
USA Today,
USA Today,
28 Apr. 2026
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The move comes amid regional fallout in the Gulf amid the Iran war, which has triggered one of the worst oil shocks in history.—
Max Zahn,
ABC News,
28 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Those were among the biggest revelations from general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan during a Wednesday morning chat with WQAM’s Joe Rose.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
29 Apr. 2026
-
Sometimes those revelations are heavy.—
Jacob Robinson,
New York Times,
28 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Back at Big Thunder, there will be other fresh surprises, including 2,000 bats added in the approach to the ride’s rainbow caverns.—
Dewayne Bevil,
The Orlando Sentinel,
30 Apr. 2026
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The rest of my day included more life-affirming surprises.—
Jaclyn Cosgrove,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The jolts are muted, the setpieces are drab, and the gore is all too literally kept under wraps.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
16 Apr. 2026
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Then, as the pandemic waned, in 2023 and early ’24, came two jolts to the system – federal pandemic-era assistance ended, pulling food and food-related funding away from charities, and the number of people seeking food continued to grow.—
Andre Mouchard,
Oc Register,
29 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Eye-openers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/eye-openers. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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