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likely

adjective · noun · adverb

Form of like , adverb of like.

Simple meaning

Something that will probably happen, or has a good chance to occur

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

lyklee

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈlaɪkli

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. Probable; having a greater-than-even chance of occurring.

  2. as predicatefollowed by to and infinitive

    Reasonably to be expected; apparently destined, probable.

  3. Leading with high probability to some specified outcome.

  4. Plausible; within the realm of credibility.

  5. Appropriate, suitable; believable; promising, having a good potential.

noun

  1. Something or somebody considered likely.

adverb

  1. Probably.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A2 · Elementary
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Probable; having a greater-than-even chance of occurring.

Used this way, likely is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Moderate
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • verisimilar , rarer, so it draws attention

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use likely

  • “These services are likely to be available to us all before long.”adjective

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

less likelylikely explanation

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • likeverbBase word

    Prefer or wish to do something.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • likenessnounDerived noun

    Similarity in appearance or character or nature between persons or things.

  • likeableadjectiveDerived adjective

    Evoking empathic or sympathetic feelings.

  • likewiseadverbDerived adverb

    In like or similar manner.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

adjective

Sense: probable

verisimilarRare

noun

Sense: something or somebody considered likely

probable

Antonyms

adjective

Sense: probable

unlikely

noun

Sense: something or somebody considered likely

unlikely

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.