What Does "I Love Your Eyes" Mean on TikTok?

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What it might mean if your crush compliments your peepers

Co-authored by John Keegan and Bertha Isabel Crombet, PhD

Last Updated: October 14, 2025 Fact Checked

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Meaning

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How to Respond

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Can you see love in someone’s eyes?

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Video

The idea that the eyes are the windows to the soul has been around for a long time. So, when someone says, “I love your eyes,” what does it mean exactly? How should you take it? And why is this compliment trending on TikTok? Use those peepers to keep reading for a complete breakdown of this sweet but sometimes suspicious compliment, including the psychology of eye contact as it relates to love, intimacy, and past triggers.

“I Love Your Eyes” Meaning

If someone tells you they love your eyes, it may be a genuine compliment—in other words, they think you have nice or pretty eyes! However, for some people, the compliment triggers a trauma response, as they may have heard it before from someone who used compliments to manipulate them but who ultimately hurt them.

Section 1 of 3:

The Meaning of “I Love Your Eyes”

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It may simply mean that someone likes your eyes or is flirting with you. Superficially speaking, having someone tell you that they “love your eyes” could genuinely mean just that: they love your eyes and they probably like the rest of you, too. The compliment could be in reference to your eyes’ color, shape, size, or other related feature. So, if you’re mingling at a party and a stranger suddenly pays you this compliment, it could be coming from a place of sincere admiration. Lucky you!^{[1]
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- This compliment reflects the role that eyes play in conveying attraction. Eye contact is a huge part of body language, and many studies have confirmed the role eyes play in determining and communicating attraction.
- For example, a person’s pupils dilate when they look at someone alluring, and couples often gaze longingly into each other’s eyes to establish and deepen their emotional connection.
- Moreover, when you lock eyes with someone, the intensity of the connection can lead to feelings of intimacy since the eyes are said to reveal all, which further adds to the attraction.^{[2]
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- In essence, the compliment may be rooted in the perceived closeness and attachment of staring into someone’s eyes. “I love your eyes” can easily be interpreted to mean, “I see you.”^{[3]
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For some, this might be a triggering reminder of past hurt or manipulation. Many trending TikTok videos (like this one by @yeetyghost) depict a person being told, “I love your eyes,” which is typically met with an annoyed or aggressive reaction. Some of these videos are captioned, “Get the F away from me,” directed at the person who’s paying the compliment. While a few different theories on the reasoning behind this reaction exist, the most popular one seems to be that the person has likely heard the compliment before from someone they were presumably in a relationship with who really hurt them.^{[4]
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- Being complimented yet again in this specific way may unearth some past emotional trauma for certain folks, as they are reminded of heartbreak and, in some cases, betrayal.
- Some users have expressed frustration at the fact that this has been a repeated compliment they’ve received, leading them to wonder if their physical appearance is all that people will ever be interested in.
- Other users shared a negative reaction for a different reason: this kind of compliment is disarming, creates a false sense of intimacy, and can be used for emotional manipulation.

Section 2 of 3:

How to Respond to “I Love Your Eyes”

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If you’re interested in them, be gracious and compliment them back. If the guy who started chatting you up at the bar and bought you a drink suddenly says, “Wow, I love your eyes,” he likely means it as a genuine compliment. If you’re interested in him, feel free to say something along the lines of, “Thank you, your eyes aren’t half bad either.” A good formula to continue a flirtatious conversation is to show gratitude, compliment them or flirt back, and allow the rest of the evening to unfold organically. Here are some other ways to reply:^{[5]
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- “Thanks, you’ll unlock all my secrets if you keep staring. Is that what you want?”
- “Thank you, you’re very kind. I grew them myself.”
- “Oh, these old things? I’ve had them all my life.”
- “I appreciate that. You’ve got a great smile.”
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If you’re not interested in them, say “thank you” and move on. Accepting flirtatious compliments from people you’re not interested in always feels kind of awkward, but it doesn’t have to! Simply thank them for their kind words and either change the topic or end the conversation altogether. Use any of the following to get out of a sticky situation:^{[6]
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- “Thanks so much. Do you know what song this is?”
- “Oh, thanks— I have terrible eyesight, so they’re just for show! Have a good night!”
- “Thank you, I’m flattered, but I’m not interested.”
- “I bet you say that to all the girls! See ya around.”

Section 3 of 3:

Can you see love in someone’s eyes?

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While you can’t literally see “love” in someone’s eyes as love is a concept and not something really measurable, you can, in fact, see and sense physical and chemical changes in another person. Research shows that pupils dilate when someone is looking at a person they find attractive, and other things happen too. Rapid heartbeats, flushed faces, and floods of dopamine, or the happy hormone, are all key indicators that someone is in love, or at the very least, in like.^{[7]
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