1
as in probable
having a high chance of occurring
if you don't graduate from high school, your likely fate is a low-paying job
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in promising
having qualities which inspire hope
this looks like a likely spot for good trout fishing
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in plausible
worthy of being accepted as true or reasonable
we didn't find her excuse a very likely story
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in pretty
very pleasing to look at
a likely gal such as yourself should have no trouble getting a date
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in probably
by reasonable assumption
the picnic will likely be cancelled if the storm continues
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of likely
Adam Crafton, New York Times, 14 June 2025
Key inputs to this call include the tendencies of mature bull markets, some likely profit-margin slippage from tariffs, moderating earnings gains and the chance that the Fed will resume rate cuts in coming months.
—Michael Santoli, CNBC, 14 June 2025
Andy Greenberg, Wired News, 16 June 2025
Magic officials appear to think that a fully healthy roster will be a top-five team in the East through the end of the decade, which, in turn, likely would mean that those outgoing picks to the Grizzlies will land anywhere from 20th to 30th overall most of the time.
—Josh Robbins, New York Times, 16 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for likely
Adjective
As of last week, the Sundowns’ match against Fluminense had sold less than 10,000 tickets, and even games involving Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain in Pasadena and Seattle are likely to fall way short of selling out.
—Adam Crafton, New York Times, 14 June 2025
Key inputs to this call include the tendencies of mature bull markets, some likely profit-margin slippage from tariffs, moderating earnings gains and the chance that the Fed will resume rate cuts in coming months.
—Michael Santoli, CNBC, 14 June 2025
Adverb
If your privacy practices have been less than perfect in the past—and whose have not, given the vanishingly tiny odds of evading every form of digital data collection—additional information about you from over the years is likely available from hundreds of data brokers.
—Andy Greenberg, Wired News, 16 June 2025
Magic officials appear to think that a fully healthy roster will be a top-five team in the East through the end of the decade, which, in turn, likely would mean that those outgoing picks to the Grizzlies will land anywhere from 20th to 30th overall most of the time.
—Josh Robbins, New York Times, 16 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for likely
Recent Examples of Synonyms for likely
Adjective
-
For his next act, Bill Zito tries something else no one thought possible, financially practical or any-which-way probable.—
Dave Hyde,
Sun Sentinel,
19 June 2025
-
The March flight failed in similar fashion, but SpaceX's investigators determined the most probable root cause was a hardware failure in one of the ship's engines, a different failure mode than two months before.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
19 June 2025
Adjective
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The most promising opportunities often lie at the intersection of significant pain and institutional blindness—where inefficiency has been accepted as inevitable.—
AllBusiness,
Forbes.com,
13 June 2025
-
As of now, the seemingly inevitable mass adoption of electrification has yet to live up to the hype, internal-combustion engines continue firing on all cylinders, and hybrid technology appears to be the most promising path ahead.—
Robert Ross,
Robb Report,
11 June 2025
Adjective
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Gordon found that line of reasoning plausible, stating that Hamby’s trade experience is comparable to an employee being transferred to an inferior job.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
18 June 2025
-
This year, conspiracy theories that once might have seemed outlandish resonate as entirely plausible, especially when dramatized by the formidable casts charged with bringing these stories to life.—
Hugh Hart,
Los Angeles Times,
17 June 2025
Adjective
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Keep reading for 10 linen summer dresses that are too pretty to be from Amazon—but totally are!—
Stephanie Osmanski,
Better Homes & Gardens,
13 June 2025
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Poetry, which can be its own cruel and dark and splintered thing, is primarily useful for Wax as a pretty form of release.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
13 June 2025
Adverb
-
Whereas a movie like Isle of Dogs, there’s music all the time, but most of the music is just drumming and something very simple, there’s probably one, two or three themes.—
Maelle Beauget-Uhl,
Forbes.com,
12 June 2025
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Francis’s wan desire for a spiritual element to his reconciliation with his brothers is probably Anderson’s get-out-of-jail-free card for this movie being aware of its own shallowness.—
Joe Reid,
Vulture,
12 June 2025
Adjective
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This might signal that the two are also getting ready for a possible upcoming change.—
Lissete Lanuza Sáenz,
StyleCaster,
22 June 2025
-
Some locally dense fog will be possible with visibilities reduced to less than one half mile at times.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
22 June 2025
Adjective
-
Houses are made of wood and painted bright shades of red, yellow or blue.—
Kim Hjelmgaard,
USA Today,
14 June 2025
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The dress featured white block trims against the bright blue.—
Hikmat Mohammed,
Footwear News,
14 June 2025
Adjective
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This reality stems from a confluence of erroneous strategic assumptions, associated fiscal constraints, bureaucratic inertia, and risk taken based on a low probability of credible threat to justify the cost of protection.—
David A. Deptula,
Forbes.com,
12 June 2025
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The duo’s sibling dynamic drives the film, thanks to Poyser’s credible script and character work.—
Proma Khosla,
IndieWire,
11 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Likely.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/likely. Accessed 25 Jun. 2025.
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