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Glite Dictionary
to look bright

to look bright

6 3.4
Seem likely to do well or get better
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : parecer prometedor
  • The future looks bright, and we have plenty of breathing room.
  • the future looks bright

Examples

  • Thus, the future looks bright for JIS.

    Academic text (2002)

  • I give my heart, you take my hand, our future looks bright.

    Blog text (3)

  • the future looks bright ahead

    This Is Elvis (1981)

  • The future does not look bright.

    Academic text (2006)

  • Though we will meet with different problems at the beginning, the future looks bright.

    Blog text (23)

  • For the rest of us, the future looks bright.

    Blog text (22)

  • "One thing's for sure: the future looks bright for this young competitor."

    The Guardian (2006)

  • The future looked bright now with Missy in the house.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • With approval ratings in the high eighties, her future looked bright and her career prospects promising.

    Blog text (30)

  • The job outlook looks bright for recent graduates with in-demand skills.

Antonyms

hopeless
133 2.7

With no chance of success or getting better

bleak
68 4.7

Showing little hope or encouragement

How Promising

rosy
26 3.2
to look bright
6 3.4

Surface Forms

look bright infinitive
looked bright past
looked bright past participle
looking bright present participle
looks bright third person singular

Morphology

look + bright

The meaning is directly compositional: 'look' = to appear and 'bright' = promising/positive, so a B1 learner who knows both words will infer 'seem promising' from the combination. This verb + adjective predication is a common, cross-linguistic pattern and therefore transparently understandable without prior exposure.

Etymology

Look bright comes from a simple picture: when something looks full of light or colour it feels warm and cheerful, so people began to call a future or plan that way. That's why look bright now means 'to seem promising'.