DiotimosReading Desk

Knowledge

Glaringly obvious

crever les yeux

The idiom means to be overwhelmingly obvious, literally to strike or pierce the eyes.

From the book

The Gods Are Athirst

Anatole France · Diotimos Editions · 2026

Browse this book’s lexicon →

Meaning

Phrase.

The idiom means to be overwhelmingly obvious, literally to strike or pierce the eyes. Gamelin says the accused persons’ guilt crève les yeux after a trial that has barely investigated individual circumstances. The visual assertion replaces an account of evidence. “Is glaring” gives the idiomatic meaning; the French also connects the claim to the novel’s recurrent language of seeing guilt instantly.

Places to read

  1. Chapter XXIV, paragraph 38FrenchLa culpabilité des accusés crève les yeux: The guilt of the accused is glaring. Gamelin offers this as a reason for his vote in the unanimous death verdict.