Meaning & use
looked
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“looked” is a form of “look”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
Past tense of look: directed your eyes toward someone or something.
Grammar: Use looked when the action happened in the past; for the present use look or looks.
Patterns
- looked at someone/something
- looked for someone/something
- looked like someone/something
She looked at the clock and realized she was late.
He looked everywhere for his keys but could not find them.
The baby looked happy in the photograph.
verblinking
Past tense of look: seemed or appeared in a particular way.
Grammar: As a linking verb, looked is followed by an adjective, not an adverb: She looked happy, not She looked happily.
Patterns
- looked + adjective
- looked as if …
- looked like …
You looked tired after the long journey.
It looked as if it was going to rain.
The house looked empty when we drove past.
Common combinations
- looked at
- She looked at the painting for a long time.
- looked for
- We looked for the missing dog all afternoon.
- looked like
- The cloud looked like a big white bear.
- looked after
- My grandmother looked after us when we were children.
- looked forward to
- They looked forward to the summer holiday.
Synonyms and how they differ
- watched
- Watched means looked at something for a longer time, often with attention; looked can be a quick glance.
- glanced
- Glanced means looked quickly and briefly; looked is more general and can last longer.
- seemed
- Seemed is very close to looked when talking about appearance, but seemed can also describe a feeling or impression that is not based on sight.
Word family
Commonly confused: looked or lookt?
looked vs lookt
Lookt is not a standard English spelling. The correct past tense is looked.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence.
Choose one answer.
When looked means 'seemed', it is a linking verb and takes an adjective: looked happy. 'Happily' is an adverb and would describe how she used her eyes, which is not the intended meaning here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “looked”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.