Likely
adj, adv, name, noun ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 Something or somebody considered likely.
- 1 Probable; having a greater-than-even chance of occurring.
"Rain is likely later this afternoon."
- 2 Reasonably to be expected; apparently destined, probable. infinitive, with-to
"Do you think there's likely to be snow?"
- 3 Appropriate, suitable; believable; promising, having a good potential.
"Jones is a likely candidate for management."
- 4 Plausible; within the realm of credibility.
"not a very likely excuse."
- 5 Leading with high probability to some specified outcome.
"a likely recipe for disaster."
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 Attractive; pleasant. archaic
"I found a likely spot under a shady tree for the picnic."
- 7 Similar; like; alike. obsolete
"For love is a celestiall harmonie Of likely harts composed of starres concent"
- 1 within the realm of credibility wordnet
- 2 has a good chance of being the case or of coming about wordnet
- 3 expected to become or be; in prospect wordnet
- 1 Probably. US
"Likely he’ll win the election in this economy."
- 2 Similarly. US, obsolete
- 1 with considerable certainty; without much doubt wordnet
- 1 A surname. countable, uncountable
- 2 A census-designated place in Modoc County, California, United States. countable, uncountable
Example
More examples"At this rate, we're not likely to be done before the end of the week."
Etymology
From Middle English likely, likly, lykly, likliche, from Old English ġelīclīċ (“suitable”) and Old Norse líkligr (“likely”) (probably independent formations), equivalent to like + -ly (adjectival suffix).
From Middle English likely, likly, lykly, likliche, from Old English ġelīclīċe (“equally”) and Old Norse líkliga, glíkliga (“likely”), both from Proto-Germanic *līkalīka, equivalent to like + -ly (adverbial suffix).
Related phrases
More for "likely"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.