phrasal verb / idiom · informal

look the part

UK/lʊk ðə pɑːt/US/lʊk ðə pɑrt/look the PART

speaking

to appear suitable or believable for a particular role or job

Examples

He wore a suit to the interview so he'd look the part.

If you want to be a professional musician on stage you need to look the part as well as play well.

The candidate looked the part but lacked real experience.

Band 8 sentence

For management roles it's not enough to have qualifications — you also need to look the part in meetings and presentations.

Collocations

  • look the part for/at a job/event
  • really look the part

Word family

look verbthe part noun phrase

Common mistakes

He looks like the part.He looks the part.

She is looking the part very well.She really looks the part.

Say it for a higher band

5look suitable6appear appropriate7+look the part

Synonyms

appear suitable

come across as

Easily confused

fit the part

He seems to fit the part, given his previous experience.

Related words

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