How to Roll Your Eyes

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Co-authored by Dr. Abbie Maroño

Last Updated: November 5, 2025 References

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Rolling Your Eyes

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Perfecting the Eye Roll

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Rolling your eyes is a way to tell someone that you're annoyed or frustrated. It is a personal and sometimes provocative expression that you can use to great effect in social situations. The motion itself is simple, once you've figured it out. Make sure that you know both how and when to roll your eyes!

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Rolling Your Eyes

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The act of rolling your eyes is pretty simple, once you figure out how to do it. To start: look up as high as you can without moving your head. In other words, bring your gaze to the apex of your eye sockets, or stare up into your forehead. Now, take the time to swing your gaze in an arc from one side of your eyes to the other, all the way around. Someone looking at you will see your pupils "roll" over the top of your eyes, so that the whites of your eyes are showing.^{[1]
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Hold the roll so that only the whites of your eyes are visible. If you roll your pupils high enough, your eyes will appear pure white. Keep your gaze firmly fixed at the upper inside of your eye sockets. Roll your eyes further and further back into your head until you can swivel them no more.
- Take a picture of yourself to confirm that you've rolled your eyes in the way that you intended. Alternately, ask a friend to watch you do it and offer feedback. You won't be able to use a mirror to watch yourself.
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Roll your eyes at someone. The eye roll is an expression that humans use to convey a feeling of displeasure to other humans.^{[2]
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Research source} You're doing it for an audience, not for yourself – so it is important to know your audience. Sometimes, you might roll your eyes at someone to show them that you are annoyed with them, that you don't believe them, or that you aren't interested in what they're saying.^{[3]
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Expert Source

Dr. Abbie Maroño
Body Language & Nonverbal Communication Expert

Expert Interview}^{[4]
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Research source} Other times, you may roll your eyes at Person A behind the back of Person B in order to tell Person A that you're frustrated with Person B. Be careful: if Person B notices, he or she might not be amused.
- If you're rolling your eyes at a group of people, you might be genuinely trying to express your frustration, and you might just be looking for a laugh. If you're going for dramatic effect, you'll want to exaggerate the eye roll as much as possible so that it's more noticeable.
- If you only want one person to "receive" the eye roll, try locking eyes with them first. Once you have been looking into each other's eyes for a brief instant, roll your eyes and make sure that they see it.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Perfecting the Eye Roll

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Practice. The best way to improve your eye roll is to understand how it looks to others. Watch yourself in front of a mirror, if you can, although you might have trouble catching yourself in the act of rolling. Try filming yourself with a webcam or cell phone camera, then watching the playback to see what your eye roll looks like. If you're really serious about it, practice in front of a friend and have him/her tell you how you're doing.
- Work on engaging your eye muscles, and keep practicing until you can roll them fluidly. The eye roll, well-executed, should look smooth and effortless.
- Don't practice too hard! It is easy to injure or tire your eye muscles from constant rolling.^{[5]
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Exaggerate the eye roll. Make it slow and dramatic. Don't focus on what you see – focus on what you look like. The intended target may be more likely to notice and appreciate your eye roll if it is dramatic. However, you might consider a quick and stealthy eye roll if you don't want everyone present to pick up on your feelings.
- Try heightening the effect by combining your eye roll with a head-shake, a sigh, or both. Make yourself look visibly exasperated.
The eye roll can be a provocative expression. Sometimes, rolling your eyes at someone will make them upset with you – and it may even make a conflict worse.^{[6]
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Dr. Abbie Maroño
Body Language & Nonverbal Communication Expert

Expert Interview} If you are legitimately frustrated with someone, try talking out your problems with them rather than passive-aggressively rolling your eyes.

Community Q&A

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How can I roll my eyes like Undertaker?

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Close your eyes. When you open them, look up. It takes practice to perfect it.

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How do I do a "duh" look?

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Tilt your head a lot to one side and forward, roll your eyes and open your mouth a little to make it look like you're annoyed.

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My eyes hurt when I try to roll them higher into my head. What can I do?

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Try doing it slower or stop doing it for a month or more. Don't push yourself.

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Tips

When you roll your eyes into your head, you block off your brain's visual processing capacity. Some claim that rolling your eyes generates alpha waves, which are neural oscillations associated with a lack of focus.^{[7]
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Research source} For this reason, eye-rolling has been sometimes used as a tool for lucid dreaming and meditation practices – though the scientific grounding is unverified.^{[8]
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Research source}

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Be careful with rolling your eyes. Some people might be offended, and you might only inflame a conflict further.^{[9]
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Dr. Abbie Maroño
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Expert Interview}

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Practice your eye roll until you're comfortable doing it. It helps if you can show yourself what you look like while eye-rolling.

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The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.

Be careful rolling your eyes at school. It's seen as a sign of disrespect and you may get into trouble with teachers or other adults.
Take breaks while practicing and rest your eyes for a moment. Otherwise your eyes may start to hurt or feel sore.

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