izgled

Izgled is a noun used in Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, and Montenegrin to denote appearance or the outward form of a person, object, or scene, as well as the impression something gives. It can refer to physical looks, or to a broader sense of how something presents itself.

Etymology: The word stems from the verb gledati “to look” with the prefix iz-, signaling outward appearance or emergence. The related verb izgledati means “to look like” or “to seem.”

Usage: The term is common in descriptions of people’s appearance—such as fizički izgled (physical appearance) or uredan izgled (neat appearance)—as well as in references to objects or places, e.g., izgled zgrade (the appearance of a building) or izgled grada (the look of a city). It can also be used metaphorically to indicate how something seems in a given moment, for example in phrases like izgleda da… meaning “it seems that…”.

See also and related terms: gledati (to look), izgledati (to look like / to seem). The word appears in a range of contexts from everyday description of appearance to more evaluative or descriptive statements about form and impression.