Word.ws English Dictionary

have eyes in the back of one's head

have eyes in the back of one's head verb: to be particularly, especially uncannily, observant, as if able to see in all directions at once.

Verb

have eyes in the back of one's head (third-person singular simple present has eyes in the back of one's head, present participle having eyes in the back of one's head, simple past and past participle had eyes in the back of one's head)

  1. (idiomatic) To be particularly, especially uncannily, observant, as if able to see in all directions at once.
    • It's so busy at our office you need eyes in the back of your head to work here!
    • Don't think you can misbehave while I'm cooking dinner. I have eyes in the back of my head.

Forms of have eyes in the back of one's head

third-person singular presenthas eyes in the back of one's head
present participlehaving eyes in the back of one's head
past participlehad eyes in the back of one's head
pasthad eyes in the back of one's head

Origin of have eyes in the back of one's head

From Latin in occipitio quoque habet oculos ("she has eyes even on the back of her head"), from Plautus, Aulularia (The Pot of Gold), act 1, scene 1.

Questions about have eyes in the back of one's head

What does have eyes in the back of one's head mean?
Have eyes in the back of one's head means to be particularly, especially uncannily, observant, as if able to see in all directions at once.
What part of speech is have eyes in the back of one's head?
Have eyes in the back of one's head is a verb.
What is the past tense of have eyes in the back of one's head?
The past tense of have eyes in the back of one's head is had eyes in the back of one's head.

Words near have eyes in the back of one's head in the dictionary

  1. have drink taken
  2. have ears
  3. have eyes bigger than one's belly
  4. have eyes bigger than one's stomach
  5. have eyes for
  6. have eyes in the back of one's head
  7. have eyes on
  8. have fingers made of lime-twigs
  9. have form
  10. have full hands
  11. have fun

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: have eyes in the back of one's head (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-have eyes in the back of one's head.ogg.

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