deer in the headlights

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun

A person in a mental state of high arousal caused by anxiety, fear, panic, surprise, confusion, or substance abuse.
A person with a stunned or glazed expression.

en-au-deer in the headlights.ogg

deer in the headlights deer in headlights

From the image of a deer caught in a car's headlights – wide-open eyes, lack of motor reactions, etc.

rabbit in the headlamps rabbit in the headlights

deer in the headlight syndrome

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.

Back to search All on D Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary