likely

adjective like·ly \ ˈlī-klē \

|Updated on: 11 Jun 2018

Examples: likely in a Sentence

Definition of likely

likelier; likeliest

1 : having a high probability of occurring or being true : very probable

rain is likely today

2 : apparently qualified : suitable

a likely place

3 : reliable, credible

a likely enough story

4 : promising

a likely candidate

5 : attractive

a likely child

See likely defined for English-language learners

See likely defined for kids

Examples of likely in a Sentence

That seems to be the most likely explanation.
This looks like a likely spot for a picnic.
They regard him as a likely candidate for the job.

Recent Examples of likely from the Web

Meanwhile some Iranian analysts warn that, as America piles on new sanctions, Iran is more likely to restart uranium enrichment than embrace democracy.

— The Economist, "Donald Trump is undermining the rules-based international order," 7 June 2018
The thinking was that such a measure could be bulletproof against attacks from the left—and as a result, more likely to win over blue voters in Washington.

— kate yoder, WIRED, "Can This State Finally Put a Price on Carbon?," 7 June 2018
Men who get emotional at work are more likely to get away with it (surprise!) than women are, says Elsbach.

— katie heaney, The Cut, "The Single Easiest Way to Control Your Emotions at Work," 7 June 2018
Bridge Creek produced nearly three times more fish than a nearby control stream, and its young steelhead were 52% more likely to survive, the researchers reported in 2016 in Scientific Reports.

— ben goldfarb, Science | AAAS, "Beaver dams without beavers? Artificial logjams are a popular but controversial restoration tool," 7 June 2018
According to Das’s analysis, older people were more likely than younger people to report self-censoring because of privacy concerns, though the likelihood was 75 percent or above for all age groups.

— julie beck, The Atlantic, "Did Cambridge Analytica Actually Change Facebook Users’ Behavior?," 7 June 2018
Is there something local about how people see their wetlands that makes that type of thing more likely?

— bradley babendir, Longreads, "Storytelling the Flood: Elizabeth Rush on Empathy and Climate Change," 7 June 2018
African-Americans are far more likely to deliver prematurely than white or Hispanic Americans.

— karen weintraub, STAT, "Blood test might help predict both preterm and healthy delivery dates," 7 June 2018
By sixth grade, those who miss more than 10 percent of school are more likely to drop out altogether.

— liz bowie, baltimoresun.com, "Nearly 1 in 5 Maryland students is chronically absent. At some schools, the rate is more than 75 percent.," 6 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'likely.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of likely

Middle English, from Old English gelīclic fitting (from gelīc like) and Old Norse glīkligr, līkligr, from glīkr like; akin to Old English gelīc

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

likely Synonyms

likely

adverb

Definition of likely

: in all probability : probably

those who seek power will most likely wind up exercising it
—Halton Arp

See likely defined for English-language learners

Examples of likely in a Sentence

He'll very likely be late.
“Will it rain tomorrow?” “Most likely.”

Recent Examples of likely from the Web

The winner on current trends will most likely be Apple, but Microsoft and Amazon are now at the same level—not bad for a firm that by tech-industry standards is as old as the hills.

— The Economist, "Buying GitHub takes Microsoft back to its roots," 9 June 2018
Taxpayers learn that the cost to build the team a new high-definition scoreboard will likely be close to the original $10 million estimate, with taxpayers covering about $7.5 million and the team paying the rest.

— dave clark, Cincinnati.com, "Looking back at Cincinnati Bengals' history with taxpayers," 8 June 2018
The annual Grand Floral Parade is the flagship event of the Portland Rose Festival and attracts a huge crowd every year (even in rainy years, as this one will most likely be).

— rosemarie stein, OregonLive.com, "Traffic advisory: How to get around the 2018 Rose Festival Parade," 8 June 2018
Moisture in the atmosphere means there will likely be more rain around South Florida this weekend than last weekend, but no washouts are expected.

— doug phillips, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Rain likely this weekend in South Florida," 8 June 2018
Pipkin is committed to Cal, but the Phillies will likely be able to lure him away from that commitment with a nice bonus.

— matt breen, Philly.com, "How the Phillies attacked the MLB draft | Matt Breen," 7 June 2018
The cornerstone of the plan is the addition of a fourth lane from Dixon to West Sacramento, which would likely be a carpool lane.

— kellen browning, sacbee, "Davis drivers intrigued by Caltrans traffic plan, but improvements are a decade away," 7 June 2018
There will likely be many more exoplanets discovered in the future, as NASA continues to develop new telescopes and other instruments to measure far-distant space objects.

— emily matchar, Smithsonian, "NASA’s New Exoplanet Travel Bureau Lets You “Tour” Far-Distant Planets In 360 Degrees," 7 June 2018
King’s new study builds on these earlier discoveries by showing that the names seem to be crucial for building and maintaining an ever-evolving array of social bonds—something that likely wouldn’t be possible if every dolphin had the same name.

— jason bittel, National Geographic, "Why Male Dolphin Buddies 'Hold Hands'," 7 June 2018