appraising

adjective

ap·​prais·​ing ə-ˈprā-ziŋ 

: making or expressing a critical judgment or evaluation

an appraising eye

Her appraising eyes measured him.

—Robert Cormier

"He's a good boy," she said, casting a sternly appraising look down her rather bony nose at Neville, "but he hasn't got his father's talent, I'm afraid to say."

—J. K. Rowling

appraisingly adverb

For some minutes he had been eyeing his lordship appraisingly …

—P. G. Wodehouse

Examples of appraising in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Those serenely appraising eyes refuse to be traduced by any fiction. —Washington Post, 14 Sep. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1819, in the meaning defined above