The idiom jaundiced eye goes back to the 1600s. An idiom is a word, group of words or phrase that has a figurative meaning that is not easily deduced from its literal meaning. We will examine the definition of the phrase jaundiced eye, where it came from and some examples of its use in sentences.
To look at something with a jaundiced eye means to look upon something with prejudice, usually in a cynical or negative way. Someone who looks upon something with a jaundiced eye is most often perceived as having been harmed or tricked in the past and is world-wise.The word jaundiced is an adjective that means showing distaste, envy or bitterness. It is derived from the word jaundice which means yellow. The idiom goes back at least to the seventeenth century, as Alexander Pope wrote: in An Essay on Criticism: “All seems infected that the infected spy, As all looks yellow to the jaundiced eye.”
Examples
As director of the Florida Program for Shark Research and curator of the International Shark Attack File, I offer the advice to viewers to cast a jaundiced eye on each episode’s title and premise. (The San Francisco Chronicle)
Accusing the DMK of viewing the state Budget with “a jaundiced eye” finance minister D. Jayakumar charged the DMK of failing to channelise financial resources for the development of the state when it was in power and leaving behind a huge debt burden. (The Deccan Chronicle)
Trump’s budget is unlikely to pass as law—president’s proposed budgets typically face a jaundiced eye but this one has gotten even more skepticism. (Fortune Magazine)
The Douglases also played and worked with Los Angeles’ rich and famous and cast a frequently jaundiced eye on the predominantly Jewish — and often imperious — magnates who dominated Hollywood, before the studios transformed into bland corporations. (The Jewish Journal)