Word.ws English Dictionary

outlook

UK/ˈaʊtˌlʊk/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/ˈawtˌlɵk/

outlook noun: a place from which something can be viewed.

Noun (1)

outlook (plural outlooks)

  1. A place from which something can be viewed.
    • Perched on the edge of the cliff was a hidden outlook.
    • This fetched tears from the innocent eyes, those Caſements and out-looks of the tender heart of our Lord Jeſus, vvho beholding the City Jeruſalem vvept over it, […]1666 October 30 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Edward Waterhous[e], “To His Noble Friend and Kinsman, Sr. Edwarde Turno[u]r, Knight; Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons in this Present...
  2. The view from such a place.
    • Fully air-conditioned and fluorescently lit, it is strikingly decorated and there is a magnificent outlook through the wide windows.1960 December, “Modern lightweight coaches of the Swiss Federal Railways”, in Trains Illustrated, page 745, photo caption
  3. An attitude or point of view.
    • He has a positive outlook on life.
  4. Expectation for the future.
    • The outlook for temperature rises is worrying.

Verb

outlook (third-person singular simple present outlooks, present participle outlooking, simple past and past participle outlooked)

  1. (archaic, intransitive, literary) To face or look in an outward direction.
    • This old man with the ſythe, olde father Tyme they call, / And hir his daughter Trueth, which holdeth yonder Booke, / Whome he out of his rocke hath brought forth to vs all, / From whence this many yeares ſhe durſt not once out looke.1577, Raphaell Holinshed, “Queene Elizabeth”, in The Laste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume II, London: […] for Iohn Hunne, →OCLC, page 1792, column 1
    • … marke his colour and his shape, that is to say, a comely well proportioned head, with an outlooking eye, good well raised shoulders, and a thicke large breast …1610, Gervase Markham, Markhams Maister-peece, or, What Doth a Horse-man Lack? London, Chapter 103 “Certaine speciall Notes to be obserued in buying of a horse,” pp. 204-205
    Synonyms:
    look out
  2. (archaic, transitive) To look at (someone) so long or intently that they look away; to win or prevail over (someone or something).
    • [...] I drew this gallant head of war,
      And cull’d these fiery spirits from the world,
      To outlook conquest and to win renown
      Even in the jaws of danger and of death.c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    • There made they stand; there euerie eye, fixt on each other, stroue
      Who should outlooke his mate amaz’d:[1611?], Homer, “Book XI”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. […], London: […] Nathaniell Butter, →OCLC; republished as The Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets, […], new...
  3. (obsolete, transitive) To be more attractive than (someone or something).
    • Nobody’s equipage outlooked ours except my Lord Lieutenant’s, but in every respect I must say Mrs. Clayton outshines her neighbours …1731, Mary Delany, letter dated 4 October, 1731, in George Paston (ed.), Mrs. Delany (Mary Granville): A Memoir, 1700-1788, London: Grant Richards, 1900, p. 64
    • … Sally quite outlooked her sister by the bye, and was very finely drest.1793, Hester Piozzi, letter dated 22 May, 1793, in Oswald G. Knapp (ed.), The Intimate Letters of Hester Piozzi and Penelope Pennington, 1788-1821, London: The Bodley Head, 1914, p. 89
  4. (obsolete, transitive) To inspect throughly; to select.
    • Away to the Brook,
      All your Tackle out look,
      Here’s a day that is worth a year’s wishing;
      See that all things be right,
      For ’tis a very spight
      To want tools when a man goes a fishing.1689, Charles Cotton, “The Angler’s Ballad” in Poems on Several Occasions, London: Thomas Bassett et al., p. 76
  5. (obsolete, transitive) To look beyond (something).
    • [...] to fit minds to so even a temper, that both should round the same circle, and never out-look the Horizon of their reciprocal Interest, is a work altogether impossible.1680, John Yalden, Compendium Politicum, or, The Distempers of Government, London: Robert Clavel, page 54

Noun (2)

outlook (plural not attested)

  1. (Hong-Kong, colloquial, no plural) look; appearance
    • How ignorant you are! Admiring the outlook of a same sex person has nothing to do with gay! Some of my male friends admire Andy Lau's and Leslie Cheung's looks quite a lot, but unfortunately, they are NOT gay, not BI, they are totally STRAIGHT!1996 March 14, Bugs, soc.culture.hongkong.entertainment (Usenet)
    • Well, first impression strikes. The other half must be somewhat attractive on the outlook to capture you attention ...... how else would you noptice^([sic]) his/her existance?^([sic]) Agree?1996 July 8, JT, soc.culture.hongkong.entertainment (Usenet)

outlook meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam

outlook in Tamil

எதிர்பார்ப்பு, எதிர்கால நோக்கு, எதிர்கால வாய்ப்பு, எதிர்கால வாய்ப்பு வளம், உளங்கொள் பாங்கு, மனநிலைச் சார்பு

outlook in Urdu

منظر, موقع, رائے

outlook in Bengali

চেহারা, নজর, দৃষি্টভঙ্গি, দৃশ্য, ভবিষ্যতের আশাদৃষ্টিকাণ

outlook in Malayalam

outlook, prospect
ദൃശ്യം dr̥śyaṁ
More languagesFewer languages
outlook in Kannada
ಕಾಣುವ ಬಗೆ, ಎಡೆಕಾಣ್ಕೆ, ಬಾಹ್ಯದೃಶ್ಯ, ಹೊರನೋಟ
outlook in Indonesian
pandangan, harapan, ramalan

Examples of outlook in a sentence

  • Outlooking on the piazza, with a balcony from which we could observe the Festa of to-morrow.1895, Henry van Dyke, “Alpenrosen and Goat’s Milk”, in Little Rivers, New York: Scribner, page 150:
  • The train stopped: the slow aisle, still interrupted with outlooking, then the descent among faces grave, decorous, and judicial: [...]1932, William Faulkner, chapter 20, in Light in August, [New York, N.Y.]: Harrison Smith & Robert Haas, →OCLC; republished London: Chatto &...
  • Once or twice he attempted to outlook the Saxon prisoner, but Hereward shrank not beneath his glance [...]1838, Thomas Miller, chapter 37, in Royston Gower, London: W. Nicholson, page 329:
  • The pain which the king suffered would have softened any ordinary heart; but the murderer was a hard and callous wretch, and his brazen eyes outlooked the king.1911, Henry Gilbert, chapter 11, in King Arthur’s Knights: The Tales Retold for Boys & Girls, Edinburgh & London: T.C. & E.C. Jack, page...

All 40 example sentences with outlook

Synonyms of outlook

6 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of outlook

Forms of outlook

Noun
pluraloutlooks
Verb
third-person singular presentoutlooks
present participleoutlooking
past participleoutlooked
pastoutlooked

Plural of outlook: outlooks

Origin of outlook

From out- + look.

From out + look. Perhaps influenced by Chinese 外表 (literally “outside + surface”) and English look (“appearance”). Same etymology as Cantonese outlook.

Words formed from outlook

Phrases with outlook

Words that rhyme with outlook

38 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about outlook

What does outlook mean?
Outlook means a place from which something can be viewed.
What is outlook in Tamil?
Outlook in Tamil is எதிர்பார்ப்பு, எதிர்கால நோக்கு, எதிர்கால வாய்ப்பு. See Outlook meaning in Tamil.
How do you use outlook in a sentence?
Outlooking on the piazza, with a balcony from which we could observe the Festa of to-morrow.
What part of speech is outlook?
Outlook can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce outlook?
Outlook is pronounced /ˈaʊtˌlʊk/ (UK).
What is the plural of outlook?
The plural of outlook is outlooks.

Words near outlook in the dictionary

  1. outloaded
  2. outloading
  3. outloads
  4. outlodging
  5. outlodgings
  6. outlook
  7. Outlook Drive
  8. outlooked
  9. outlooker
  10. outlookers
  11. outlooking

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: outlook (page history and authors); outlook (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); outlook (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); outlook (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ദൃശ്യം (Malayalam) (page history and authors); outlook (Kannada Wiktionary) (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: en-us-outlook.ogg.

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