If a guy recently held eye contact with you and he didn’t look away then you might be wondering why and what it might mean about the way that he feels about you.

This post will show you a number of reasons why he might have held eye contact with you without looking away and why other guys might do the same in the future.

So, what does it mean if a guy holds eye contact with you without looking away? It could be a sign that he is attracted to you especially if he only does it with you and he shows other body language signs of attraction. He might also be annoyed with you, do it naturally or he might be mirroring your own body language.

There are actually a number of reasons why a guy might hold eye contact with you and not look away and there are a number of things that you can consider when trying to understand why.

Why a guy will hold eye contact and not look away

Each of the different reasons why a guy will hold eye contact with you without looking away will likely come with a number of clues in the way that he does it and the body language that he shows.

Below, I will mention a number of reasons why he might have done it, the signs to look for and the things to consider.

He is attracted to you

Holding prolonged eye contact will often be a sign of attraction. The reason for this is that couples will begin to hold eye contact, with each other, for longer than usual when they are developing feelings for each other. It has also been found that the love chemical oxytocin is released when they are holding eye contact with each other.

If he does hold eye contact without looking away because he is attracted to you then it would be more likely that he would only do it with you and that he would show different body language around you compared to when he is with others.

It would also be more likely if his pupils seem to become more dilated when looking at you. This is because people’s pupils will dilate when looking at someone that they are attracted to.

If he is attracted to you then it would be likely that he would show signs of attraction, when he is around you, such as:

  • Asking you the most questions
  • Keeping his focus on you when multiple people are talking
  • Glancing at you a lot
  • Adjusting his appearance when he sees you
  • Touching you a lot
  • Standing closer to you than he does with other people
  • Pointing his feet at you (people often point their feet at people that they are attracted to)
  • Watching you and getting anxious when you are around other men
  • Getting defensive when other men are with you both
  • Having dilated pupils when looking at you (people’s pupils will often become more dilated when looking at someone that they are attracted to)

There are more signs of attraction that a guy might show around you and I have written about more of them in this blog post.

He is annoyed with you

The reason that he was holding prolonged eye contact with you might have been that he was annoyed with you.

This would be more likely if he doesn’t normally hold eye contact with you for so long and if he did it after something happened that might have annoyed him. It would also be more likely if he was squinting slightly while doing it.

If he did do it because he was annoyed with you then he might have shown other signs of being annoyed with you by doing things such as:

  • Facing away from you
  • Smiling with a closed mouth
  • Tightening his lips
  • Distancing himself
  • Avoiding eye contact
  • Furrowing his eyebrows

He holds prolonged eye contact naturally

It could also be the case that he was doing it naturally.

If this was the case then it would be more likely that he would also hold eye contact with other people without looking away and that he would show similar body language around them as with you.

If he does do it naturally then it could still be the case that he is attracted to you. If he is then it would be likely that he would show some signs of attraction around you that he doesn’t around other people.

He is mirroring you

The reason that he was holding eye contact and not looking away might have been that you were doing it to him.

When a person is trying to fit in with the people in a certain group that person will begin to mirror the body language of the people in the group. This is done subconsciously and it is done in order to make it more likely that the group will accept that person. This could be why he was holding eye contact and not looking away with you.

This would be more likely to be the reason if you have held eye contact in a similar way with him in the past and if he also seems to mirror your body language in other ways such as:

  • Touching you back when you touch him
  • Showing similar facial gestures to you
  • Smiling in the same way that you do
  • Talking at a similar pitch to you
  • Standing in a similar way as you

Mirroring you can also be a sign that he is attracted to you. If he is attracted to you then he would also likely show some other signs of attraction.

Consider how he reacts to seeing you

When trying to understand why he was holding eye contact with you without looking away it would help to consider how he reacts to seeing you.

If he changes his body language in a noticeable way then it would be more likely that he has positive or negative feelings about you depending on the way that he changes it.

If he changes his body language by doing things such as:

  • Adjusting his appearance
  • Adjusting his posture
  • Facing towards you (especially with his feet)
  • Moving closer to you
  • Having more dilated pupils

Then it would be more likely that he was holding eye contact with you because he is attracted to you.

Whereas, if he reacts to seeing you by doing things such as:

  • Squinting
  • Facing away from you
  • Smiling with a closed mouth
  • Tightening his lips
  • Distancing himself
  • Avoiding eye contact

Then it would make it more likely that he was annoyed with you in some way.

Consider how he interacts with other people

It would also help to compare the way that he interacts with other people with how he interacts with you.

If his body language is the same with other people as it is with you and he also holds eye contact with them then it would be more likely that he was doing it naturally.

Whereas, if he only seems to hold prolonged eye contact with you and his body language is different around you, in a way that shows attraction, then it would be more likely that he is attracted to you.

Consider the type of relationship you have with him

Considering the type of relationship that you have with him could also be helpful.

If he is a guy that you have been friends with for a while and he has started to hold eye contact with you without looking away then it would be more likely that he is developing feelings for you.

If it was a guy that you haven’t met before then it could be the case that he was doing it on purpose to try and make you find him more attractive, that he was attracted to you or that he had a dominating personality.

Look for a number of body language clues

When thinking about what his body language might be showing it would help to consider a number of signs at the same time.

The reason for this is that a single body language sign can have many different meanings. This can cause single body language signs to be unreliable on their own.

Whereas, if someone shows a number of body language signs that all suggest the same thing then it would be more likely that they are showing them for that specific reason.

If you want to learn more about body language, a book I would recommend would be The Definitive Book of Body Language (on Amazon). It shows you how to interpret body language and understand people's true intentions.

Author

I created and currently manage Body Language Central, one of the premier sources for body language-related knowledge. Body language plays a key role in our daily lives. I hope that my website can help condense the wide amount of body language information available and allow you to make full use of it in your daily life. You can read more about me and my website here.