likely
Syllables: like·ly/ˈlaɪkli/
likely adjective: probable; having a greater-than-even chance of occurring.
Adjective
likely (comparative more likely or likelier, superlative most likely or likeliest)
- Probable; having a greater-than-even chance of occurring.
- Rain is likely later this afternoon.
- His parents — a restless, titanically self-involved father and a mother who cultivated her inner life in strict solitude — seem a much likelier source for his condition.2009 May 24, Laura Miller, “Faking It”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 28 Sep 2021
- Reasonably to be expected; apparently destined, probable.
- Do you think there's likely to be snow?
- He is likely to succeed at anything he tries.
- Appropriate, suitable; believable; promising, having a good potential.
- Jones is a likely candidate for management.
- The relationship with social status is a likely topic for investigation.
- Plausible; within the realm of credibility.
- not a very likely excuse.
- The DPRK propagated an extraordinary tale of his birth occurring on Mount Baekdu, one of Korea's most revered sites, being accompanied by shooting stars in the sky. It is more likely that he was born in a small village in the USSR, while his father was serving as a Soviet-backed general during the...2011 December 19, Kerry Brown, “Kim Jong-il obituary”, in The Guardian
- Leading with high probability to some specified outcome.
- a likely recipe for disaster.
- Attractive; pleasant.
- I found a likely spot under a shady tree for the picnic.
- Similar; like; alike.
- For love is a celestiall harmonie Of likely harts composed of starres concent1596, Edmund Spenser, An Hymne in Honour of Beautie
Noun
likely (plural likelies)
- Something or somebody considered likely.
Adverb
likely (comparative more likely or likelier, superlative most likely or likeliest)
Proper noun capitalized: Likely
Likely (countable and uncountable, plural Likelys)
likely meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
likely in Hindi
- probable; having a greater-than-even chance of occurring
- प्रायिक prāyik, संभावित sambhāvit
likely in Tamil
- நடக்கக்கூடிய, நிகழக்கூடிய, பெரும்பாலும் நிகழக்கூடிய
likely in Urdu
- اغلب, بہت ممکن, غالباً
likely in Bengali
- likely, probable
- সম্ভব śombhob
More languagesFewer languages
- likely in Malayalam
- സാധ്യതയുള്ള, സംഭാവ്യമായ, ഭവ്യ, സംഭവ്യമായ
- likely in Kannada
- ಬಹುಶಃ, ಪ್ರಾಯಶಃ, ಆಗಬಹುದಾದ, ಸಂಭವನೀಯ
- likely in Arabic
- عَلَى الأَغْلَبِ ʕalā l-ʔaḡlabi
Examples of likely in a sentence
- He likely will win the election in this economy.
- Most likely he’ll win the election in this economy.
- He’ll most likely win the election in this economy.
- He most likely will win the election in this economy.
- People who talk about an imminent possibility of war seldom pose this question: What would North Korea’s leadership get from unleashing a war that they are likely to lose in weeks, if not days?2013 April 9, Andrei Lankov, “Stay Cool. Call North Korea’s Bluff.”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 21 May 2020:
- The short window during which the fish is fresh also makes it more likely to be tastier in Japan.2023 June 15, Rebecca Wallwork, “‘You had to be there’: Foods that taste better on home turf”, in CNN:
Synonyms of likely
Forms of likely
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more likely |
| comparative | likelier |
| superlative | most likely |
| superlative | likeliest |
| Noun | |
| plural | likelies |
| Adverb | |
| comparative | more likely |
| comparative | likelier |
| superlative | most likely |
| superlative | likeliest |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Likelys |
Origin of likely
From Middle English likely, likly, lykly, likliche, from Old English ġelīclīċ (“suitable”) and Old Norse líkligr (“likely”) (probably independent formations), equivalent to like + -ly (adjectival suffix).
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).
Words formed from likely
Phrases with likely
Questions about likely
- What does likely mean?
- Likely means probable; having a greater-than-even chance of occurring.
- What is likely in Hindi?
- Likely in Hindi is प्रायिक (prāyik), संभावित (sambhāvit). See Likely meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use likely in a sentence?
- He likely will win the election in this economy.
- What part of speech is likely?
- Likely can be an adjective, a noun, an adverb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce likely?
- Likely is pronounced /ˈlaɪkli/.
Words near likely in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: likely (page history and authors); Likely (page history and authors); likely (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); likely (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); সম্ভব (Bengali) (page history and authors); likely (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); likely (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-likely.ogg.
Cite this entry: “likely.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/likely. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.