Link Centre Dictionary

likely

li·kely

UK/ˈlaɪkli/ US/ˈlaɪkli/ common us
adjective (4) adverb (1)

adjective

1.

has a good chance of being the case or of coming about

  • “these services are likely to be available to us all before long”
  • “she is likely to forget”
  • “a likely place for a restaurant”
  • “the broken limb is likely to fall”
  • “rain is likely”
  • “a likely topic for investigation”
  • “likely candidates for the job”
Antonyms
Similar
2.

likely but not certain to be or become true or real

  • “a likely result”
  • “he foresaw a probable loss”
Synonyms
Antonyms
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3.

expected to become or be; in prospect

  • “potential clients”
  • “expected income”
Synonyms
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4.

within the realm of credibility

  • “not a very likely excuse”
  • “a plausible story”
Synonyms
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adverb

1.

with considerable certainty; without much doubt

  • “He is probably out of the country”
  • “in all likelihood we are headed for war”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English likely, likly, lykly, likliche, from Old English ġelīclīċe (“equally”) and Old Norse líkliga, glíkliga (“likely”), both from Proto-Germanic *līkalīka, equivalent to like + -ly (adverbial suffix).

Phrases

  • as likely as not
  • likely lad
  • likely story
  • more than likely
  • not likely
  • not Pygmalion likely

Related words

See also

Pertaining to

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.