likening 1 of 2

present participle of liken
1
as in comparing
to describe as similar he generally likened a root canal to some horrible form of torture

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2

likening

2 of 2

noun

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of likening
Noun
Florida’s Surgeon General, Joseph Ladapo, announced on Wednesday that the state would end all vaccine mandates, likening them to slavery. Connor Greene, Time, 3 Sep. 2025 Protests broke out in several cities, including a hanging of the billionaire in effigy in Milan and posters in London likening him to a Nazi. Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 29 Aug. 2025 Critics also argue that the deals treat African nations as political bargaining chips, with legal experts likening the practice to human trafficking. Amanda Castro hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Aug. 2025 Homar argues that destinations should have the right to choose their visitors, likening it to deciding whom to invite to dinner. Julia Buckley, CNN Money, 19 Aug. 2025 Carano, in the past, has posted on social media likening modern political divides to the Holocaust and mocking people who wore masks during the pandemic. Elizabeth Maline, NBC news, 8 Aug. 2025 Norselapsis straddles both anatomies, with researchers likening it to a human whose arms extended from behind their cheeks. Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 6 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for likening
Verb
  • The state uses county data on home sale prices, not Zillow data, to complete its studies comparing market value to assessed value, which explains differences in The Star’s calculations when compared to the state’s.
    Madeline King, Kansas City Star, 7 Sep. 2025
  • Some software developers have already responded positively to the update, with some comparing the feature to Git, the version control system that lets programmers create separate branches of code to test changes without affecting the main codebase.
    Benj Edwards, ArsTechnica, 5 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • For comparison, Paris last summer was the first time Jamaica paid out bonuses at an Olympics.
    Liam Tharme, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2025
  • For comparison, a single chest CT scan delivers around 7 mGy of radiation.
    Anna Broughel, Forbes.com, 7 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • For their part, Israeli leaders discovered the political utility of equating such hostility with Europe’s fascist past.
    Daniel May, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025
  • Stop equating stress with success.
    Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 19 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • The video of serene waves that swished behind the curved stage at the start of Dua Lipa’s concert slowly intensified until the tide became a surge, an appropriate analogy for the pop superstar’s arrival in the US for the first time in more than three years.
    Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 6 Sep. 2025
  • Simmons made an analogy of Jenkins at the wheels of FIU’s offense.
    Walter Villa, Miami Herald, 4 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • However, real-life manufacturing environments are different, introducing variability into the equation.
    Tejasri Gururaj, Interesting Engineering, 4 Sep. 2025
  • But not all hope is lost, as our shopping editors-slash-internet sleuths managed to round up five alternative picks that resemble hers and will complete your fall ‘fit equations.
    Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Likening.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/likening. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.

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