like

1 of 9

verb

ˈlīk 

liked; liking

transitive verb

1

a

: to feel attraction toward or take pleasure in : enjoy

likes baseball

b

: to feel toward : regard

how would you like a change

2

: to wish to have : want

would like a drink

3

: to do well in

this plant likes dry soil

my car does not like cold weather

4

: to electronically register one's approval of (something, such as an online post or comment) for others to see (as by clicking on an icon designed for that purpose)

[Brittany] Bunker then thanked the 477,000 people who had liked her post for their support …

—Natalie Cornish

How he picked out this seemingly random user and went ahead and liked the tweet is really surprising …

—Zach Pereles

5

chiefly dialectal : to be suitable or agreeable to

I like onions but they don't like me

intransitive verb

1

: to feel inclined : choose, prefer

leave any time you like

2

dialect : approve

like

2 of 9

noun (1)

1

: liking, preference

2

: something that one likes

3

: the act or an instance of liking (see like entry 1 sense 4) an online comment, post, etc.

Her post got thousands of likes.

like

3 of 9

adjective

1

a

: the same or nearly the same (as in appearance, character, or quantity)

suits of like design

—formerly used with as, unto, of

it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren

—Hebrews 2:17 (King James Version)

b

chiefly British : closely resembling the subject or original

the portrait is very like

2

: likely

the importance of statistics as the one discipline like to give accuracy of mind

—H. J. Laski

like

4 of 9

preposition

1

a

: having the characteristics of : similar to

his house is like a barn

it's like when we were kids

b

: typical of

was like him to do that

c

: comparable to : approximating

costs something like fifty cents

2

: in the manner of : similarly to

acts like a fool

3

: as though there would be

looks like rain

4

: such as

a subject like physics

5

—used to form intensive or ironic phrases

fought like hell

like fun he did

laughed like anything

like

5 of 9

noun (2)

1

a

: one that is similar : counterpart, equal

have … never seen the like before

—Sir Winston Churchill

b

: kind sense 1a

—usually used with a preceding possessive

put him and his like to some job

—J. R. R. Tolkien

2

: one of many that are similar to each other

—used chiefly in proverbial expressions

like breeds like

like

6 of 9

adverb

1

archaic : equally

2

: likely, probably

you'll try it, some day, like enough

—Mark Twain

3

a

: to some extent : rather, altogether

saunter over nonchalantly like

—Walter Karig

b

—used interjectionally in informal speech often to emphasize a word or phrase (as in "He was, like, gorgeous") or for an apologetic, vague, or unassertive effect (as in "I need to, like, borrow some money")

4

: nearly, approximately

the actual interest is more like 18 percent

—used interjectionally in informal speech with expressions of measurement

it was, like, five feet long

goes there every day, like

like

7 of 9

conjunction

1

a

: as if

middle-aged men who looked like they might be out for their one night of the year

—Norman Mailer

b

—used in intensive phrases

drove like mad

hurts like crazy

2

: in the same way that : as

they raven down scenery like children do sweetmeats

—John Keats

3

a

: in the way or manner that

the violin sounds like an old masterpiece should

did it like you told me

b

—used interjectionally in informal speech often with the verb be to introduce a quotation, paraphrase, or thought expressed by or imputed to the subject of the verb, or with it's to report a generally held opinion

so I'm like, "Give me a break"

it's like, "Who cares what he thinks?"

4

: such as

a bag like a doctor carries

when your car has trouble—like when it won't start

—used interjectionally in informal speech

often stays up late, until like three in the morning

Like vs. as: Usage Guide

Like has been used as a conjunction in ways similar to as since the 14th century. In the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries it was used in serious literature, but not often; in the 17th and 18th centuries it grew more frequent but less literary. It became markedly more frequent in literary use again in the 19th century. By mid-century it was coming under critical fire, but not from grammarians, oddly enough, who were wrangling over whether it could be called a preposition or not. There is no doubt that, after 600 years of use, conjunctive like is firmly established. It has been used by many prestigious literary figures of the past, though perhaps not in their most elevated works; in modern use it may be found in literature, journalism, and scholarly writing. While the present objection to it is perhaps more heated than rational, someone writing in a formal prose style may well prefer to use as, as if, such as, or an entirely different construction instead.

like

8 of 9

auxiliary verb

variants or liked

ˈlīkt 

chiefly dialectal

: came near : was near

so loud I like to fell out of bed

—Helen Eustis

-like

9 of 9

adjective combining form

: resembling or characteristic of

bell-like

ladylike

Phrases

and the like

: et cetera

the likes of or less commonly the like of

1

: such people as : such things as

reads the likes of Austen and Browning

2

: such a one as and perhaps others similar to

—usually used with disparaging overtones

have no use for the likes of you

3

: the kind or sort of

a fantastic celebration the likes of which had never been seen before

—Joseph Heller

as like as not or like as not

: probably

Synonyms

Verb

• care (for)
• want

Noun (1)

• appetite
• fancy
• favor
• fondness
• liking
• love
• love affair
• partiality
• preference
• relish
• shine
• taste
• use

Adjective

• akin
• alike
• analogous
• cognate
• comparable
• connate
• correspondent
• corresponding
• ditto
• matching
• parallel
• resemblant
• resembling
• similar
• such
• suchlike

Noun (2)

• breed
• class
• description
• feather
• genre
• ilk
• kidney
• kind
• manner
• nature
• order
• sort
• species
• strain
• stripe
• type
• variety

Adverb

• enough
• fairly
• kind of
• kindly [chiefly Southern]
• moderately
• more or less
• pretty
• quite
• rather
• relatively
• something
• somewhat
• sort of

Conjunction

• as
• as if
• as though

Examples of like in a Sentence

Verb

He likes baseball, but he loves football.

Do you like Mexican food?

I liked the movie a lot more than I thought I would.

I don't know what it is about that guy, but I just don't like him.

They were political allies who truly liked each other.

What is it that you like or dislike about him most?

She says she likes him as a friend but she's not attracted to him.

My boss was a tough guy, but I liked him for his honesty.

Noun (1)

she thought her new boyfriend was unusually interested in her likes and dislikes

Adjective

you're not talking about like things when you compare football and golf

Preposition

The house looks like a barn.

It's like when we were kids.

She's not at all like her sister.

The baby is more like his mother than his father.

“Who is he like?” “He's not like anyone I've ever met before.”

Noun (2)

you can never trust his like, because they'll always let you down

we'd never seen its like in any other shop in town

Adverb

the cat would curl up, tightly like, and just go to sleep

the distance is more like 500 miles

Conjunction

it looks like it's going to rain at any moment

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Bucks like to bed on a ridge or bench, watching for does and scent-checking scrapes below. —Michael Hanback, Outdoor Life, 7 Nov. 2024

There’s a lot of passionate people that don’t like Trump. —Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 5 Nov. 2024

Preposition

For someone like me, who came here for both education and opportunity, the stakes are high. —Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 10 Nov. 2024

Did returning to recording to the normal show feel like a letdown? —James Grebey, Vulture, 9 Nov. 2024

Noun

Just as there are no excuses for the Aston Martin team’s performance against best-in-the-world rivals at Formula 1 race tracks, so there can be none in showroom competition against the likes of McLaren and Ferrari. —Dan Carney, Popular Science, 7 Nov. 2024

Wise’s roster of banking partners has grown to more than 90 names, including the like of Monzo, Google Pay and Interactive Brokers. —Robert Olsen, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024

Adverb

What is 1 Observatory Circle like inside? Inside the 9,000-square-foot house is 33 rooms, dedicated for both public and private use, with highlights including a heated outdoor pool, library, and sunlit solarium. —Mary Cunningham, CBS News, 1 Oct. 2024

The display will update once per second when in Always On mode instead of once per minute like before. —Hayden Field,ashley Capoot,kif Leswing,todd Haselton, CNBC, 9 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Verb and Noun (1)

Middle English, from Old English līcian; akin to Old English gelīc alike

Adjective

Middle English, alteration of ilich, from Old English gelīc like, alike, from ge-, associative prefix + līc body; akin to Old High German gilīh like, alike, Lithuanian lygus like — more at co-

First Known Use

Verb

12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Noun (1)

1589, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Preposition

1561, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun (2)

12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Adverb

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Conjunction

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Auxiliary Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing like

• a face like thunder
• and the like
• anything like
• as like as not
• a thing like
• avoid (someone or something) like the plague
• built like a brick shithouse
• bulb-like
• call it/them like one sees it/them
• came down on us like a ton of bricks
• cloud-like
• come out/up smelling like a rose
• come out/up smelling like/of roses
• cone-like
• crammed/packed like sardines
• crazy like a fox
• daisy-like
• die like flies
• drop like flies
• feel like
• feel like oneself
• feel/look like something the cat brought/dragged/drug in
• feels like crap
• fight like cat and dog
• fight like cats and dogs
• go down/like a bomb
• go down like a lead balloon
• go over like a lead balloon
• grow like a weed
• have a memory/mind like a sieve
• hawk-like
• hit him like a ton of bricks
• how do you like
• how do you like that
• how would you like
• how would you like it
• I'd (just) like to see him try
• if you like
• I like that!
• insulin-like growth factor
• it looks like rain
• it seems like only yesterday
• It sounds like
• just like that
• know something like the back of one's hand
• know what it's like
• laugh like a drain
• leg-like
• lie like a rug
• like a bat out of hell
• like a broken record
• like a chicken with its head cut off
• like a demon
• like a dream
• like a drowned rat
• like a fiend
• like a hole in the head
• like a (hot) knife through butter
• like a house on fire
• like a lamb to the slaughter
• like a madman
• like a madwoman
• like a maniac
• like a man/woman possessed
• like an oven
• like anything
• like a shot
• like as not
• like a ton of bricks
• like clockwork
• like crap
• like crazy
• like death warmed over
• like death warmed up
• like dishwater
• like gangbusters
• like (greased) lightning
• like heaven
• like hell
• like hotcakes
• like I said
• like it or lump it
• like mad
• like magic
• like-minded
• like new
• like nobody's business
• like no other
• like pulling teeth
• like sardines
• like shit
• like so
• like someone owns the place
• like someone's chances
• like someone's style
• like so much
• like that
• like the cat that ate/got/swallowed the canary
• like the cat that got the cream
• like the clappers
• like the devil
• like the dickens
• like there's no tomorrow
• like the wind
• like this
• like water
• (like) water off a duck's back
• like wildfire
• look/feel like a million dollars/bucks
• look like
• make like
• make out like a bandit
• more like
• more like it
• mycoplasma-like organism
• nothing like
• nothing succeeds like success
• not like that
• not like the look of
• not like the sound of (something)
• of like mind
• of/like steel
• out like a light
• pleuropneumonia-like organism
• ran like the wind
• read (someone) like a book
• running around like a chicken with its head cut off
• sink like a stone
• sleep like a baby/log
• smoke like a chimney
• something like
• sound like
• sounds like a broken record
• spread like wildfire
• stick like glue
• stick/stand out like a sore thumb
• story-like
• sweat like a pig
• take to something like a duck (takes) to water
• tea-like
• tell it like it is
• that's more like it
• the like of
• there's no fool like an old fool
• there's no time like the present
• this is more like it
• treat (someone) like dirt
• turn out like (someone or something)
• watch (someone or something) like a hawk
• work like a charm
• work like a Trojan
• work like magic
• would like
• zen-like
• zombie-like

Kids Definition

like

1 of 9 verb

ˈlīk 

liked; liking

1

: to have a liking for : enjoy

likes baseball

2

: to feel toward : regard

how do you like this weather?

3

: to wish to have : want

would like a drink

4

: to feel inclined : choose

you can leave any time you like

5

: to indicate approval of (as an online post) for others to see (as by clicking on an icon designed for that purpose)

like

2 of 9 noun

1

: liking, preference

my likes and dislikes

2

: an instance of liking an online post

like

3 of 9 adjective

: being the same or very nearly the same

two like magnetic poles

suits of like design

like

4 of 9 preposition

1

a

: similar to

the house looks like a barn

b

: typical of

it would be just like you to do that

2

: similarly to

acting like a fool

blow it up like a balloon

3

: likely to

looks like rain

4

: such as

a subject like physics

like

5 of 9 noun

: equal entry 2 sense 1

may never see its like again

also : kind entry 1 sense 1a

I'd keep him and his like away

like

6 of 9 adverb

1

: likely entry 2, probably

like as not the cat's under the porch

2

: in some amount : somewhat, seemingly

it moves stiff like

3

: close to : within a little : nearer

the rate is more like 18 percent

like

7 of 9 conjunction

1

: as if

the plane looked like it would crash

pedaling like mad

2

: in the same way that : as

you sound just like I do

does it look like it used to?

like

8 of 9 helping verb

variants or liked

ˈlīkt 

chiefly dialect

: came near : was near

I like to have died laughing

-like

9 of 9 adjective combining form

ˌlīk

: resembling or characteristic of

bell-like

ladylike

Etymology

Verb

Old English līcian "to take pleasure in"

Adjective

Old English gelīc "alike"