Shouldn't there be a preposition 'like' in "She looked every bit a princess."?

Question

She looked every bit a princess.

Doesn't this sentence need the preposition like, as in "She looked every bit like a princess."?

In a word, no. Related: http://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/9917. If you ignore all the hullabaloo about which article should be used (Rule #1: _Never overthink an article_; Rule #2: _Never overthink the article_), you'll find your structure here mirrors some of the examples there. The phrase _something of a_ (or _every bit a_) can be used to mean _much like a_. So, "She looked every bit a princess" is essentially the same as, "She looked like a princess in every way." — J.R., Sep 09 '13 at 08:16

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 08 '13 at 19:02

2

When we are using look as appear, the comparative preposition like may or may not be used. The following sentence is from Oxford dictionary.

answered Sep 08 '13 at 19:02

aarbee

1 Answers1