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So I'm writing a narrative and my character has to close her eyes. However, the word 'close' seems to just give off the visual that she is gently/lightly closing her eyes. I want to do the opposite of that. I have tried using 'shutting her eyes', but I need something more descriptive.

Are there any suggestions as to what I should use? Maybe like an adverb or different verb that I should use instead. I'll appreciate any help, thanks.

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  • She clamped her eyes shut.
    – Lambie
    Jun 30, 2018 at 0:16
  • 1
    Snapped, slammed, clapped. Short of providing a long list of synonyms, is there any other information you can provide that would help narrow this down?
    – Jason Bassford
    Jun 30, 2018 at 1:04
  • @JasonBassford my character is in a situation where she has to close her eyes because she was suddenly submerged in water.
    – bombompop
    Jun 30, 2018 at 13:04
  • @JGN Please look again at Ruakh's "closing her eyes tight, or squeezing her eyes shut…" both of which are standard; prolly stock phrases. Equally, Jason's "Snapped, slammed, clapped…" should do your trick and as he said, short of providing a long list of synonyms, is there any other information you can provide that would help narrow this down?
    – Robbie Goodwin
    Jun 2, 2020 at 0:32

1 Answer 1

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You can say closing her eyes tight, or squeezing her eyes shut.

Merriam-Webster defines squeeze one's eyes shut as "to close one's eyes very tightly".

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