Meaning & use
outlook on life
Last updated
Meaning
phrasecountable
A person's general attitude toward life and the way they expect things to turn out.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a positive outlook on life' or 'their outlooks on life differ'.
Patterns
- a positive/negative outlook on life
- someone's outlook on life
- have an outlook on life
After the accident, she developed a much more positive outlook on life.
His pessimistic outlook on life makes him hard to cheer up.
Traveling alone gave me a fresh outlook on life.
Word forms
| plural | outlooks on life |
|---|
Common combinations
- positive outlook on life
- Her positive outlook on life is contagious.
- negative outlook on life
- He has a negative outlook on life and rarely sees the good in things.
- change your outlook on life
- That trip completely changed my outlook on life.
- a fresh outlook on life
- Retirement gave him a fresh outlook on life.
Synonyms and how they differ
- worldview
- Worldview is broader and often refers to beliefs about society and the world, not just personal attitude.
- philosophy of life
- This is more formal and suggests a deliberate set of principles, while 'outlook on life' can be unplanned.
- attitude
- Attitude is more general and can be about a specific thing; 'outlook on life' is always about life as a whole.
Commonly confused: outlook on life or outlook?
outlook on life vs outlook
Outlook alone often means a forecast (weather outlook) or an email program; 'outlook on life' is only about personal attitude.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'outlook on life' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Outlook on life' is the fixed phrase; 'of', 'to', and 'for' do not collocate with 'outlook' in this meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “outlook on life”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.