look back
Britishverb
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to cast one's mind to the past
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to become increasingly successful
after his book was published, he never looked back
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to pay another visit later
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Remember or think about the past, as in When Mom looked back on the early days of their marriage, she wondered how they'd managed with so little money . [Late 1500s]
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not look back ; never look back . Never show signs of interrupted progress, never return to past circumstances. For example, Once he'd won the Pulitzer Prize, he never looked back . [Late 1800s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
For decades, their families could look back at their sacrifices in sorrow but also in pride at how their lives had forged a true American democracy.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
Like I said, it’s OK to look back and wish you had done some things differently, but fixating on the past isn’t always helpful.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
“We’re going to look back one day,” Dorio said, “and see how ridiculous this is.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026
Before one of England's biggest matches in history, BBC Sport takes a look back at the World Cup rivalry between the two sides.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
Molly refused to look back at the crumbling auditorium around them and joined the others.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
