Dry eye syndrome refers to a general term for various diseases in which tear fluid quality orabnormality or kinetic abnormality is caused by any cause, resulting in decreased tear film stability, accompanied by ocular discomfort and/or ocular surface tissue lesion characteristics. Dry eye syndrome is a multifactorial disease that is greatly affected by age and environmental factors. Among them, oxidative stress is closely related to age-related dry eye. In this article, based on animal experiments, the role of oxidative stress in dry eye syndrome was pointed out by establishing animal models of oxidative stress and monitoring the levels of biomarkers and antioxidant defenses indicative of oxidative damage in ocular surface tissue. In addition, some interventional studies have shown that oxidative stress may be a direct target for local treatment of dry eye. Certain substances may effectively reduce oxidative stress damage, thereby achieving the effect of treating dry eye. Further research on oxidative stress in recent years has shown that oxidative stress has an increasingly important role in dry eye, providing a basis for clinical intervention against oxidative stress.