unlikely
adjective · adverb · noun
Simple meaning
Probably not going to happen, or probably not true.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
uhnlykleeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ənˈlaɪkli
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 likely to be true or to occur or to have occurred
“Legislation on the question is highly unlikely.”
Not likely; improbable; not to be reasonably expected.
Not holding out a prospect of success; likely to fail; unpromising.
adverb
In an improbable manner.
noun
Something or somebody considered unlikely.
Understand the Word
How this word is built, and what each part adds.
Unlikely describes something with a low chance of happening or being true.
- un-
- not, or without
- likely
- probable or expected
Prefix function , Not — expresses absence of the quality
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Not likely to be true or to occur or to have occurred
Used this way, unlikely is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“Legislation on the question is highly unlikely.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- 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 unlikely
- “Legislation on the question is highly unlikely.”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.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Marked by dissimilarity.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: not likely to be true or to occur
Antonyms
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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.