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目を三角にする (めをさんかくにする) Japanese meaning | Kotomora
Meanings 1
expression, suru verb (irregular)
glare angrily ; look daggers at
Describes a fierce, angry glare, often with eyes narrowed into a triangular shape. Used in the pattern 目を三角にして (in a glaring manner) or as a suru verb.
宿しゅく
題だい
を
し
なさい
と
言い
っ
た
。
My mother looked daggers at me and told me to do my homework.
Similar words にらむ にらむ is a general verb for glaring or staring fiercely, while 目を三角にする specifically describes the facial expression of anger with narrowed eyes.
目め をつり 上あ げる 目をつり上げる also expresses anger through the eyes, but emphasizes raising the outer corners of the eyes rather than narrowing them into a triangle.
Etymology The expression likens angry, narrowed eyes to a triangle (三角). The exact origin is uncertain, but it is a vivid, commonly used idiom in modern Japanese.
