Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Possessing or displaying the qualities or characteristics that make something probable.
- adjective Within the realm of credibility; plausible.
- adjective Apparently appropriate or suitable.
- adjective Apt to achieve success or yield a desired outcome; promising.
- adjective Attractive; pleasant.
- adverb Probably.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Probably; as may reasonably be supposed.
- Similar; congenial; kindred.
- That may be suitable; preferred for a particular reason or purpose; fit or adapted, or giving promise of being so: as, a likely subject for satire.
- Having likeness to truth; that seems or that may be true; credible; probable: as, a likely story.
- Hence Within the limits of probability; having a tendency; so situated or constituted that he or it will probably be or do something indicated: followed by an infinitive.
- Liable to happen or come about; in prospect or expectation.
- Such as may be liked; likable; pleasing; agreeable; commendable; promising; good.
- Synonyms Apt, Likely, etc. See
apt .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adverb In all probability; probably.
- adjective Worthy of belief; probable; credible.
- adjective Having probability; having or giving reason to expect; -- followed by the infinitive.
- adjective obsolete Similar; like; alike.
- adjective Such as suits; good-looking; pleasing; agreeable; handsome.
- adjective Having such qualities as make success probable; well adapted to the place; promising
- adjective informal Improbable; unlikely; -- used ironically.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
probable ; having a greater-than-evenchance ofoccurring - adjective
probable ; Possessing or displaying thequalities orcharacteristics that make somethingprobable - adjective
appropriate ,suitable ;believable ; having a goodpotential - adjective
plausible ; Within the realm ofcredibility - adjective
promising ; Apt toachieve success or yield a desired outcome - adjective
attractive ; pleasant - adjective Reasonably to be expected; apparently destined.
- adverb obsolete
Similarly . - adverb
Probably . - noun Something or somebody considered likely.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective has a good chance of being the case or of coming about
- adjective expected to become or be; in prospect
- adverb with considerable certainty; without much doubt
- adjective within the realm of credibility
- adjective likely but not certain to be or become true or real
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
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Examples
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The banks that took care of their own loans wound up, long term, in a situation that was likely to be better; but only _likely_ some localities had bad luck, some banks got hit by other factors, and only if they actually were better at managing their localloans.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Repeating the Mistakes of the Mortgage Crisis 2009
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If anything, that it was sold in stores and was *nevertheless* “likely” to prevail on a fair use defense, indicates to me that the same thing posted on a web page as fanfic would be *even more likely* to be fair use.
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If anything, that it was sold in stores and was *nevertheless* “likely” to prevail on a fair use defense, indicates to me that the same thing posted on a web page as fanfic would be *even more likely* to be fair use.
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He'll be doing his term likely in Yazoo City, Mississippi, which is near his home.
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Natalee Holloway is a name likely to haunt a generation of U.S. parents.
News - latimes.com By Rene Lynch 2012
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'American Idol' auditions in Pittsburgh reveal one heck of a belter: Erika Van Pelt Reid Grimm impresses, and Travis Delgado and Holly Day wow them with big sob stories Jim Farber / DAILY NEWS MUSIC CRITIC Steven Tyler on "American Idol" Thursday, a phrase likely to resonate quite a ways down the "Idol" line.
NYDN Rss JIM FARBER 2012
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Newt Gingrich, out for revenge after being on the receiving end of a $4m £2.6m advertising battering from Romney in Iowa, did not hold back, accusing him of lying, being unelectable and, in a phrase likely to be remembered long after the campaign is over, of talking "pious baloney".
The Guardian World News Ewen MacAskill 2012
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Natalee Holloway is a name likely to haunt a generation of U.S. parents.
News - latimes.com By Rene Lynch 2012
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Leading the Huskers to the title likely would've been enough to boost Frazier over George, whose Buckeyes lost to Tennessee in the Citrus Bowl.
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Rhimes: I don't know about the word "likely" possibly the last.
Grey's Anatomy: Shonda Rhimes Talks Mer-Der's Struggle, Cristina's Pregnancy 2011
qroqqa commented on the word likely
In BrE this has the peculiar grammatical property that as an adverb it can't occur on its own: it has to be premodified by another adverb. So we can say that it will very/quite/more likely happen tomorrow, but not that *it will likely happen tomorrow. The latter is of course normal in AmE. As an adjective there's no such restriction: it is likely to happen, and it is very/quite/more likely to happen.
Whereas 'probably' behaves quite normally: it will probably happen.
September 2, 2008