unlike
adjective · noun · verb
Simple meaning
Not like; dissimilar.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
uhnlykSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ənˈlaɪk
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Not like; dissimilar (to); having no resemblance; unalike.
Not equal in amount
“They distributed unlike (or unequal) sums to the various charities.”
Unequal.
noun
Something that is not like something else; something different.
verb
by extension
To withdraw support or enjoyment for.
To dislike.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Not like; dissimilar (to); having no resemblance; unalike.
Used this way, unlike 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
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use unlike
- “For twins they are very unlike.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Not likely to be true or to occur or to have occurred.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Antonyms
Sense: something that is not like something else
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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.