Dry eye is becoming more common worldwide.Its pathophysiology is complicated, and its condition is chronic.Treatment options of dry eye are ineffective.As a multifactorial ocular surface disease, tear film instability, tear hyperosmolarity, ocular surface inflammation, and neurosensory abnormalities resulted from various causes are main natural pathological processes of dry eye.This multifactorial process of the disease leads to poor efficacy of single anti-inflammatory therapy.Oxidative stress is closely related to the occurrence of dry eye.During the decrease of tear film stability, reactive oxygen species produced by oxidative stress system damage the myelin sheath of ocular nerve and the lipid layer of tear film, inducing or aggravating the ocular inflammatory response.Targeting the main causes of dry eye's pathogenesis, stopping the vicious cycle of inflammatory responses in each link, and relieving patients' conditions are the main goals of antioxidant therapy.The development of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant medications is currently the main focus of international research on novel anti-dry eye medications.Some progresses have been made in the area of targeting oxidative stress biomarkers, mitochondrial targeting medications, mucin secretion, antioxidant enzymes like glycoprotein selenium and lactoferritin, as well as multifunctional nanoagents, and the antioxidant eye drops using nanomaterials have more advantages.Antioxidant treatment may be one of the potential future avenues of dry eye clinical research.Ophthalmologists and researchers should be fully aware of, pay close attention to and actively participate in investigations that are relevant to dry eye antioxidant therapy and the development of new medications.