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.
I want to be the kind of dad that my kids look back on and think I was present and loving and the kind of person they’d look up to.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 4, 2026
It is interesting to look back at the SNP manifesto from 2003.
From BBC • May 1, 2026
“You can’t look back at those games. It’s just on to the next one, that’s our focus.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 24, 2026
I’m not looking to take reckless risks, but I also don’t want to look back and feel like I left a lot of growth on the table.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 24, 2026
He and Jonah are so engrossed in their conversation, he doesn’t even look back to say hello.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
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.
