Skip to main content
to look like

to look like

1.3
To have a similar appearance to someone or something
  • phrasal verb
  • /lʊk laɪk/
translation icon : parecerse a
  • "Your younger sister, Imogene, the one who looks like you, goes out a lot at night."
  • looks like the real thing
  • a library looks like
  • what learning looks like

You could have a triangle that looks like this.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • So then we have something that looks like this.

  • Gideon has dark rings under his eyes and looks like he has aged considerably.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • But this will still look like this tomorrow.

  • Although it may not look like it, I have won.

  • Why does the guy on the WE commercial look like you?

  • But what would a pillow look like in space?

  • Let's see what this looks like in my mirror.

  • And it looks like I'm just in time.

  • There's lots of girls who look like me.

  • That painting looks like a sunset over the ocean.

Synonyms

to resemble
vsto look like
274 2.0

To be like another person or thing

is a two-word informal phrase used in everyday speech to show similarity

Antonyms

152 2.6

To be different from another person or thing in some way

86 2.7

To compare two or more things to show how they are different

How Similar

to look like
1.3
to resemble
274 2.0

Surface Forms

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

Morphology

look + like

The meaning 'to resemble' is directly built from 'look' (to appear) combined with 'like' (indicating similarity), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the MWE's meaning. This comparative construction is common cross-linguistically and follows regular English composition patterns, making it immediately comprehensible.

Etymology

The phrase look like comes from a simple picture: you look at someone and see that they are like another person or thing. So it means 'to resemble' or 'to seem similar'.