deer in the headlights
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Completely shocked or stunned, unable to move or react.
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Bị sốc hoàn toàn, không thể di chuyển hoặc phản ứng
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: deer frozen in car headlights
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
She was like a deer in the headlights when she saw the accident.
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “deer in the headlights” mean?
Completely shocked or stunned, unable to move or react. Literally: deer frozen in car headlights
Is “deer in the headlights” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.