myopia

Everyday

1. Short-sightedness: being able to see things close to you clearly but things far away look blurry. tree →
2. (formal) Not thinking about the future or about what will happen later; only thinking about now. tree →

In the lessons

In science and health lessons, myopia is explained with the eye and lenses: the eye focuses light in front of the retina instead of on it, so glasses with concave (curved-in) lenses help. In news and formal writing it can mean a lack of foresight, e.g. «political myopia».

Examples

• The optician said I have myopia, so I need glasses for the board. tree →
• Myopia means you can read a book but not a sign across the road. tree →
• More children have myopia today, and doctors say playing outside may help. tree →
• Glasses for myopia have lenses that are thinner in the middle. tree →
• My brother's myopia got worse, so he got contact lenses. tree →
• The newspaper blamed the council's myopia for not planning ahead. tree →

Note

Uncountable. The adjective is «myopic» (a myopic child; a myopic decision). The opposite is hypermetropia or long-sightedness (US: nearsighted = myopic, farsighted = long-sighted). Pronounced «my-OH-pee-a».