From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpenetrating look/eyes/gaze etcpenetrating look/eyes/gaze etcLOOK ATa look etc which makes you feel uncomfortable and seems to see inside your mind a pair of penetrating dark eyes He gave her a penetrating stare. → penetrating
Examples from the Corpus
penetrating look/eyes/gaze etc• Although most people would have stared at his nose Adam was more struck by his penetrating eyes.• He was from Fukien province, was missionary-trained, and had bright, penetrating eyes.• Matron was equally dignified, with a towering cap of white linen and a penetrating gaze.• The woman scrutinized me from across the office, holding her penetrating gaze as I walked toward her.• They were the blackest, brightest, most penetrating eyes I ever saw...• Take a long hard, and penetrating look into the way you handle your life and the pattern of your partnerships in general.• Nomatterwhat she did to distract herself, his dark penetrating eyes lingered in her memory as though they'd been branded there. 