phrasal verb · neutral
look on
UK/lʊk ɒn/US/lʊk ɑːn/LOOK·on
speakingtask2
to be a spectator; to watch without becoming involved; also to regard in a certain way
Examples
“Many people just looked on as the argument escalated.”
“We looked on him as a hero after the rescue.”
“You can't just look on while the school is underfunded.”
Band 8 sentence
“Citizens cannot merely look on as environmental standards deteriorate; they must pressure policymakers.”
Collocations
- look on as
- look on while
Word family
look on phrasal verblooks on / looking on / looked on verb forms
Common mistakes
They just looked at while the fight continued.→They just looked on while the fight continued.
We look on him hero.→We looked on him as a hero.
Say it for a higher band
5watch→6stand by→7+look on
Synonyms
watch
stand by
Easily confused
stand by
“The witnesses stood by while the incident unfolded.”
Related words
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