1
of the eyes or vision
: dull or dimmed especially from fatigue or sleep
2
: poorly outlined or defined : dim
a bleary view
3
: very tired
bleary travelers
Examples of bleary in a Sentence
She looked at me with bleary eyes.
disoriented, bleary passengers departing from the red-eye
Recent Examples on the Web
The action begins during Paris Fashion Week, where a supermodel played by Bella Hadid staggers down the catwalk sweaty and bleary eyed, itching to escape the confines of her red leather Balenciaga ensemble.
—
Savannah Walsh, Vanity Fair, 5 Jan. 2026
He was surrounded by his boys from Alabama, trading cracks with a bleary grin.
—Nick Stern, Rolling Stone, 30 Oct. 2025
These are essentially gothic works, in which bleary, nocturnal isolation opens a door to bizarre impulses and uncanny transformations.
—Jessica Winter, New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2025
If earlier iterations of the lesbian vampire film were Gothic and ornate, Nadja is more shoegaze, captured on bleary black-and-white videotape with an expressionistic flair.
—Samantha Allen, Them., 7 Oct. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Bleary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bleary. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.
Medical Definition
bleary
adjective
of the eyes or vision
: dull or dimmed especially from fatigue or sleep
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