Word.ws English Dictionary

look back

look back verb: to think of (past events) in retrospect (in hindsight). Also the alternative form of look-back.

Verb

look back (third-person singular simple present looks back, present participle looking back, simple past and past participle looked back)

  1. To think of (past events) in retrospect (in hindsight).
    • Near-synonyms: recollect, recall, remember
    • When I look back at my summer holidays as a child, I smile.
  2. (intransitive) To reconsider or regret.
    • You do what you have to do, and don't look back.
  3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see look, back.
    • Don't look back in anger, I heard you say1996, Oasis, “Don't Look Back in Anger”, in (What's the Story) Morning Glory?

Also used as

look back is also the alternative form of look-back.

look back meaning in Tagalog and Arabic

look back in Tagalog

look behind oneself
lingon

look back in Arabic

look behind oneself
اِلْتَفَتَ iltafata, اِسْتَدَارَ istadāra

Examples of look back in a sentence

  • I can't tell you what you're feelin' inside / And I can't sell you what you don't want to buy / Something's missing, you got to look back on your life / You know something here just ain't right1985, Brian Allen, Sheron Alton, Jim Vallance, “What About Love”, in Heart, performed by Heart:
  • It seems very unlikely, with these transformational things, that people will look back in a few decades' time and think we shouldn't have built it.2023 February 8, Paul Stephen with Howard Smith, “Elizabeth Line: "It's not job done yet"”, in RAIL, number 976, page 35:

Synonyms of look back

All synonyms of look back

Forms of look back

Verb
third-person singular presentlooks back
present participlelooking back
past participlelooked back
pastlooked back
Noun
plurallook backs

Questions about look back

What does look back mean?
Look back means to think of (past events) in retrospect (in hindsight).
What is look back in Tagalog?
Look back in Tagalog is lingon. See Look back meaning in Tagalog.
How do you use look back in a sentence?
I can't tell you what you're feelin' inside / And I can't sell you what you don't want to buy / Something's missing, you got to look back on your life / You know something here just ain't right
What part of speech is look back?
Look back is a verb.
What is the past tense of look back?
The past tense of look back is looked back.

Words near look back in the dictionary

  1. look at it this way
  2. look at me
  3. look at oneself in the mirror
  4. look at you
  5. look away
  6. look back
  7. look backs
  8. look before one leaps
  9. look beyond
  10. look beyond the end of one's nose
  11. look beyond the tip of one's nose

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: look back (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-look back.wav.

Cite this entry: “look back.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/look_back. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.