Likely — meaning, pronunciation & more

Definition

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

likely but not certain to be or become true or real

Pronunciation

🇺🇸American English

/lˈaɪkli/

🇬🇧British English

/lˈaɪkli/

🇮🇳Indian English

/lˈaɪkli/

3 syllables Say it as /lˈaɪkli/.

Examples

these services are likely to be available to us all before long
she is likely to forget
a likely place for a restaurant

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

probable potential probably belike in all likelihood in all probability

Antonyms

improbable unlikely

Parts of Speech

adjective	has a good chance of being the case or of coming about “these services are likely to be available to us all before long”
adjective	likely but not certain to be or become true or real “a likely result”
adjective	expected to become or be; in prospect “potential clients”
adjective	within the realm of credibility “not a very likely excuse”
adverb	with considerable certainty; without much doubt “He is probably out of the country”

Word Forms

likeliness	noun	the probability of a specified outcome
probability	noun	a measure of how likely it is that some event will occur; a number expressing the ratio of favorable cases to the whole number of cases possible
potency	noun	the inherent capacity for coming into being
potentiality	noun	the inherent capacity for coming into being

Around the World

Europe

🇩🇪German

wahrscheinlich

hat eine gute Chance, dass es der Fall ist oder eintritt

🇫🇷French

probable

a de bonnes chances de se produire ou de se réaliser

🇪🇸Spanish

probable

tiene buenas posibilidades de que sea así o de que se produzca

🇮🇹Italian

probabile

ha buone probabilità che si avveri o che si realizzi

🇳🇱Dutch

waarschijnlijk

heeft een goede kans dat dit het geval is of zal gebeuren

🇵🇹Portuguese

provável

tem uma boa chance de ser o caso ou de acontecer

🇷🇺Russian

вероятный

имеет хорошие шансы на то, что это так или произойдет

India

🇮🇳Hindi

संभावित

मामला बनने या घटित होने की अच्छी संभावना है

🇧🇩Bengali

সম্ভবত

কেস হওয়ার বা আসার একটা ভালো সুযোগ আছে

🇮🇳Tamil

வாய்ப்பு

வழக்கு அல்லது வருவதற்கு ஒரு நல்ல வாய்ப்பு உள்ளது

🇮🇳Telugu

అవకాశం

కేసుగా ఉండటానికి లేదా వచ్చేందుకు మంచి అవకాశం ఉంది

🇮🇳Marathi

शक्यता

केस असण्याची किंवा समोर येण्याची चांगली संधी आहे

🇮🇳Gujarati

શક્યતા

કેસ બનવાની અથવા આવવાની સારી તક છે

🇮🇳Kannada

ಸಾಧ್ಯತೆ

ಪ್ರಕರಣವಾಗಲು ಅಥವಾ ಬರಲು ಉತ್ತಮ ಅವಕಾಶವನ್ನು ಹೊಂದಿದೆ

🇮🇳Malayalam

സാധ്യത

കേസ് ആകുന്നതിനോ വരാനുള്ള നല്ല സാധ്യതയോ ഉണ്ട്

🇮🇳Punjabi

ਸੰਭਾਵਨਾ

ਕੇਸ ਹੋਣ ਜਾਂ ਆਉਣ ਦੀ ਚੰਗੀ ਸੰਭਾਵਨਾ ਹੈ

🇵🇰Urdu

امکان

کیس ہونے یا ہونے کا ایک اچھا موقع ہے۔

East & Southeast Asia

🇨🇳Chinese

可能

有很大的机会成为这种情况或发生

🇯🇵Japanese

おそらく

そうなる、あるいは起こる可能性が高い

🇰🇷Korean

~할 것 같은

그런 일이 일어나거나 일어날 가능성이 높다

🇻🇳Vietnamese

rất có thể

có cơ hội tốt để xảy ra trường hợp đó hoặc xảy ra

🇹🇭Thai

มีแนวโน้ม

มีโอกาสที่จะเป็นอย่างนั้นหรือกำลังจะเกิดขึ้น

🇮🇩Indonesian

mungkin

memiliki peluang bagus untuk menjadi kasus atau terjadi

🇵🇭Filipino

malamang

ay may magandang pagkakataon na mangyari o mangyari

🇲🇾Malay

berkemungkinan

mempunyai peluang yang baik untuk menjadi kes atau berlaku

Middle East

🇸🇦Arabic

محتمل

لديه فرصة جيدة أن يكون هذا هو الحال أو أن يحدث

🇮🇷Persian

به احتمال زیاد

شانس خوبی برای تحقق یا به وجود آمدن دارد

🇹🇷Turkish

büyük ihtimalle

durumun gerçekleşme veya ortaya çıkma şansı yüksektir

🇮🇱Hebrew

סָבִיר

יש סיכוי טוב להיות המקרה או לבוא

Test Yourself1 / 3

What is the primary definition of the word 'likely'?

The primary meaning of 'likely' is 'has a good chance of being the case or of coming about'.

Which of the following sentences uses the word 'likely' in a grammatically correct way?

Using 'likely' in a noun/adjective form makes the first sentence correct.

In which domain is the word 'likely' most likely to appear as standard vocabulary?

'likely' is a standard word used primarily in general literature and formal communications.

Community Poll1 / 6

How often do you encounter the word 'likely' in your daily reading?

Very Often

Occasionally

Rarely

Never

Do you find 'likely' easy to spell?

Yes, very easy

Somewhat easy

A bit confusing

Extremely hard

In your opinion, does the word 'likely' have a positive, neutral, or gloomy tone?

Positive

Neutral

Gloomy

Vibrant

Which age group is most likely to use 'likely' in regular conversations?

Kids (3-12)

Teens (13-19)

Adults (20-60)

Seniors (60+)

How likely are you to use 'likely' in a professional email?

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Never

Would you classify 'likely' as formal, casual, or slang?

Formal

Casual

Slang

Archaic

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