The English Oracle

What is the logical difference between "to seek" and "to look for"?

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Chapters
00:00 What Is The Logical Difference Between &Quot;To Seek&Quot; And &Quot;To Look For&Quot;?
00:17 Answer 1 Score 11
00:47 Accepted Answer Score 1
01:12 Thank you

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Tags
#differences #verbs

#avk47



ANSWER 1

Score 11


I regard them as synonyms. However, there is a lexical difference. 'Seek' is a pure verb and 'look for' is a phrasal verb - a pure verb plus, in this case, a preposition. Phrasal verbs carry an idiomatic meaning and are more typical in spoken or informal usage.

A similar pair might be 'discover' and 'find out' - but we would never think to transfer the preposition from the phrasal verb and use it with the pure verb - 'discover out'.




ACCEPTED ANSWER

Score 1


Perhaps the applicant is using a telephone to seek employment?

This would be considered seeking but not literally looking.

In a non-literal sense, "looking for" is synonymous with "sniffing out" but I don't think you can use that to argue that these terms are synonymous in every other context in which one of them might be used.

Logically, seeking encompasses a greater variety of methods and senses than does looking.