look on
Britishverb
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(adverb) to be a spectator at an event or incident
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Also: look upon. (preposition) to consider or regard
she looked on the whole affair as a joke
he looks on his mother-in-law with disapproval
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Also, look upon . Regard in a certain way, as in I looked on him as a second father , or We looked upon her as a worthy successor . [Early 1600s]
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Be a spectator, watch, as in She rode the horse around the ring as her parents looked on . [Late 1500s]
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Also, look on with . Read from someone's book, paper, or music at the same time, as in I forgot my score; can I look on with you? [Late 1800s]
Other Word Forms
- looker-on noun
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.
Even in her final years, her sister Ronnie recounted, “she would get a look on her face and say, ‘I wish I could find my son.’”
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026
Still she was trying to look on the bright side.
From Barron's • Feb. 26, 2026
The 27-year-old Kelly was furious with the 49th-minute decision, booting a wall in the tunnel on his exit, while manager Luciano Spalletti wore a perplexed look on the sidelines.
From BBC • Feb. 25, 2026
But the look on her face when she saw me, my emaciated frame, the chemical burn under my clavicle, sour smell I couldn’t mask, told me otherwise.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 30, 2026
James asked with a bewildered look on his face.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
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.
