look forward to

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

look forward to (third-person singular simple present looks forward to, present participle looking forward to, simple past and past participle looked forward to)

1. (transitive, idiomatic) To anticipate, expect, or wait for, especially with a feeling of approval or pleasure. To be excited or eager to.

   He was not looking forward to having to repair the downed power lines after the wind storm.

   • 1794 November 19, George Washington, speech, George Washington's Sixth State of the Union Address,

     When we call to mind the gracious indulgence of Heaven by which the American people became a nation; when we survey the general prosperity of our country, and look forward to the riches, power, and happiness to which it seems destined, with the deepest regret do I announce to you that during your recess some of the citizens of the United States have been found capable of insurrection.

   • 1818, [Mary Shelley], chapter V, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume III, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, →OCLC, page 106:

     I love Elizabeth and look forward to our union with delight.

   • 1895, Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest […] , [Act III]:

     Then a passionate celibacy is all that any of us can look forward to.

   • 1909 May 18, Gilbert Newton Lewis, Richard Chace Tolman, “The Principle of Relativity, and Non-Newtonian Mechanics”, in Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 44: 709-726:

     To such verification, however, we may look forward with reasonable confidence, for Einstein has deduced from the principle of relativity, together with the electromagnetic theory, a number of striking consequences which are remarkably self-consistent.

   • 1961 January 17, Dwight D. Eisenhower, speech, Eisenhower's farewell address,

     Now, on Friday noon, I am to become a private citizen. I am proud to do so. I look forward to it.

   • 2024 February 7, Philip Haigh, “Railway's fragile resilience”, in RAIL, number 1002, page 3:

     I look forward to seeing 3417 running under its own power on the main line, and carrying passengers too. That needs central door locking, which will be no mean feat on a 4-VEP with 60 passenger doors.

Translations

anticipate, expect, or wait for

• Bulgarian: очаквам (bg) (očakvam)
• Catalan: esperar amb il·lusió
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 期待 (zh) (qīdài), 向往 (zh) (xiàngwǎng), 盼望 (zh) (pànwàng), 巴望 (zh) (bāwàng), 等不及 (zh) (děngbují), 期盼 (zh) (qīpàn)

• Czech: těšit se (cs)
• Danish: glæde sig til, se frem til
• Dutch: uitkijken naar (nl), ernaar uitkijken om (nl), zich verheugen op (nl)
• Esperanto: antaŭĝoji (pri)
• Faroese: gleða seg (+ til + acc.)
• Finnish: odottaa innolla (eagerly), odottaa jännityksellä (excitedly), odottaa mielenkiinnolla (with interest)
• French: avoir hâte de (fr), attendre avec impatience, espérer (fr)
• German: erwarten (de), sich (de) freuen (de) (+ auf + acc.)
• Greek: προσβλέπω (el) (prosvlépo), ευελπιστώ (el) (evelpistó), ανυπομονώ (el) (anypomonó)
• Hungarian: alig vár (hu)
• Icelandic: hlakka til
• Italian: non vedere l'ora
• Japanese: 楽しみにする (tanoshimi ni suru)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: glede seg (no), se frem til

  Nynorsk: gle seg til, sjå fram til

• Persian: مشتاق بودن (moštâq budan)
• Polish: nie móc się doczekać
• Portuguese: ansiar (pt)
• Romanian: abia aștepta
• Russian: ждать с нетерпе́нием (ždatʹ s neterpénijem), не мочь дожда́ться (ne močʹ doždátʹsja), предвкуша́ть (ru) impf (predvkušátʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: dèan fiughair ri
• Serbo-Croatian: radovati se (sh)
• Slovak: tešiť sa
• Slovene: veseliti se
• Spanish: esperar (es), tener pensado, no ver la hora
• Swedish: se fram emot (sv)
• Telugu: ఎదురుచూచు (te) (edurucūcu)
• Turkish: iple çekmek (tr), dört gözle beklemek (tr)
• Ukrainian: не могти дочекатися (ne mohty dočekatysja)

See also

• roll on (Interjection, British, informal)