aussehen

See also: Aussehen

German

Etymology

From Middle High German ūzsehen. Analysable as aus- (“out”) +‎ sehen (“to see”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaʊ̯sˌzeː.ən/, [ˈʔaʊ̯sˌzeːən], [ˈʔaʊ̯sˌzeːn̩]
• IPA^(key): /ˈaʊ̯ˌseːn/

• Audio

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• audio (Austria)

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Verb

1. (intransitive) to look, seem (wie/nach like)

   Du siehst müde aus. ― You look tired.

   • 2017, Simone Meier, Fleisch, Kein & Aber, p. 7:

     Der Mann sah aus wie eine geschälte Kellerassel, und sie fragte sich: Wieso sind Schönheitschirurgen nie schön?

     The man looked like a peeled woodlouse, and she wondered: How come cosmetic surgeons are never good looking?

2. (intransitive, colloquial) to look good or bad; depending on intonation

   Das sieht aus! — Ich find schon, dass das aussieht.

   That looks terrible! — I actually think it looks nice.

3. (intransitive, with nach) to look for; to watch out for

   Er saß am Ufer und sah nach den Booten aus.

   He sat at the shore and watched out for the boats.

4. (transitive, usually with reflexive dative, possibly dated) to look for and find; to pick; to select

   Sieh dir den Besten aus!

   Find yourself the best!

Synonyms

• (all senses): ausschauen

Usage notes

• In the sense of “to look like something”, aussehen is construed with the conjunction wie or the preposition nach. For a possible slight distinction between both ways, compare the latter lemma.

Derived terms

• alt aussehen
• Aussehen
• gutaussehend
• sich die Augen aussehen

Related terms

• ausersehen
• Aussicht

Further reading

• “aussehen” in Duden online