likely

• POS: Adjective, Adverb
• HYPHEN: like=ly

CIDE DICTIONARY

likely, a. [That is, like-like. See Like, a.].

•  Worthy of belief; probable; credible; as, a likely story.  [1913 Webster]

  "It seems likely that he was in hope of being busy and conspicuous."  [1913 Webster]
•  Having probability; having or giving reason to expect; -- followed by the infinitive; as, it is likely to rain.  [1913 Webster]
•  Similar; like; alike.  Spenser.  [1913 Webster]
•  Such as suits; good-looking; pleasing; agreeable; handsome.  Shak. Milton.  [1913 Webster]
•  Having such qualities as make success probable; well adapted to the place; promising; as, a likely young man; a likely servant.  [1913 Webster]
•  Improbable; unlikely; -- used ironically; as, a likely story.  [PJC]

likely, adv. 

 In all probability; probably.  [1913 Webster]
"While man was innocent he was likely ignorant of nothing that imported him to know."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

likely, adj. & adv.
--adj.
1 probable; such as well might happen or be true (it is not likely that they will come; the most likely place is London; a likely story).
2 (foll. by to + infin.) to be reasonably expected (he is not likely to come now).
3 promising; apparently suitable (this is a likely spot; three likely lads).
--adv. probably (is very likely true).

Idiom

as likely as not probably. not likely! colloq. certainly not, I refuse.

Derivative

likeliness n.

Etymology

ME f. ON l{iacute}kligr (as LIKE(1), -LY(1))

THESAURUS

likely

Junoesque, a propos, able, acceptable, ad rem, adapted, advantageous, advisable, agreeable, amply endowed, applicable, apposite, appropriate, apropos, apt, apt to, assumably, becoming, befitting, bent, bonny, braw, built, built for comfort, buxom, by all odds, callipygian, callipygous, cogitable, comely, conceivable, conceivably possible, congruous, contingent, convenient, couleur de rose, credible, curvaceous, curvy, decent, desirable, disposed, disposed to, dispositioned, dollars to doughnuts, doubtless, doubtlessly, dovetailing, earthly, encouraging, expected, expedient, fair, favorable, favored, favorite, feasible, felicitous, fit, fitted, fitten, fitting, foreseeable, fructuous, geared, given, goddess-like, good, good-looking, goodly, happy, hopeful, humanly possible, imaginable, in all likelihood, in all probability, in the cards, in the mood, inclined, inclined to, indubitably, just right, liable, liable to, like enough, lovely to behold, meet, meshing, minded, mortal, most likely, no doubt, odds-on, on the button, opportune, pat, personable, plausible, pleasing, pneumatic, politic, possible, potential, predictable, predictable within limits, predisposed, presentable, presumable, presumably, presumptive, presumptively, probable, probably, profitable, promising, prone, proper, qualified, reasonable, recommendable, relevant, right, rose-colored, roseate, rosy, seasonable, seemly, shapely, sightly, slender, sortable, stacked, statistically probable, statuesque, suitable, suited, suiting, tailored, ten to one, tenable, thinkable, timely, to be desired, to the point, to the purpose, undoubtedly, useful, verisimilar, very like, very likely, well-built, well-favored, well-formed, well-made, well-proportioned, well-shaped, well-stacked, well-timed, wise, worthwhile

ROGET THESAURUS

likely

Possibility

N possibility, potentiality, what may be, what is possible, compatibility, practicability, feasibility, practicableness, contingency, chance, V, be possible, stand a chance, admit of, bear, render possible, put in the way of, Adj, possible, in the cards, on the dice, in posse, within the bounds of possibility, conceivable, credible, compatible, likely, practicable, feasible, performable, achievable, within reach, within measurable distance, accessible, superable, surmountable, attainable, obtainable, contingent barely possible, marginally possible, just possible, possible but improbably, (improbable), theoretically possible, Adv, possibly, by possibility, perhaps, perchance, peradventure, maybe, may be, haply, mayhap, if possible, wind and weather permitting, God willing, Deo volente, D, possible, in the cards, on the dice, in posse, within the bounds of possibility, conceivable, credible, compatible, likely, practicable, feasible, performable, achievable, within reach, within measurable distance, accessible, superable, surmountable, attainable, obtainable, contingent barely possible, marginally possible, just possible, possible but improbably, (improbable), theoretically possible, possibly, by possibility, perhaps, perchance, peradventure, maybe, may be, haply, mayhap, if possible, wind and weather permitting, God willing, Deo volente, D, V, as luck may have it, misericordia Domini inter pontem et fontent, the glories of the Possible are ours, anything is possible, in theory possible, but in practise unlikely, possibility, potentiality, what may be, what is possible, compatibility, practicability, feasibility, practicableness, contingency, chance, V, be possible, stand a chance, admit of, bear, render possible, put in the way of, Adj, possible, in the cards, on the dice, in posse, within the bounds of possibility, conceivable, credible, compatible, likely, practicable, feasible, performable, achievable, within reach, within measurable distance, accessible, superable, surmountable, attainable, obtainable, contingent barely possible, marginally possible, just possible, possible but improbably, (improbable), theoretically possible, Adv, possibly, by possibility, perhaps, perchance, peradventure, maybe, may be, haply, mayhap, if possible, wind and weather permitting, God willing, Deo volente, D, possible, in the cards, on the dice, in posse, within the bounds of possibility, conceivable, credible, compatible, likely, practicable, feasible, performable, achievable, within reach, within measurable distance, accessible, superable, surmountable, attainable, obtainable, contingent barely possible, marginally possible, just possible, possible but improbably, (improbable), theoretically possible, possibly, by possibility, perhaps, perchance, peradventure, maybe, may be, haply, mayhap, if possible, wind and weather permitting, God willing, Deo volente, D, V, as luck may have it, misericordia Domini inter pontem et fontent, the glories of the Possible are ours, anything is possible, in theory possible, but in practise unlikely.

Probability

N probability, likelihood, credibleness, likeliness, vraisemblance, verisimilitude, plausibility, color, semblance, show of, presumption, presumptive evidence, circumstantial evidence, credibility, reasonable chance, fair chance, good chance, favorable chance, reasonable prospect, fair prospect, good prospect, favorable prospect, prospect, wellgrounded hope, chance, probable, likely, hopeful, to be expected, in a fair way, plausible, specious, ostensible, colorable, ben trovato, well-founded, reasonable, credible, easy of belief, presumable, presumptive, apparent, probably, belike, in all probability, in all likelihood, very likely, most likely, like enough, odds on, odds in favor, ten to one, apparently, seemingly, according to every reasonable expectation, prim=a facie, to all appearance, the chances, the odds are, appearances are in favor of, chances are in favor of, there is reason to believe, there is reason to think, there is reason to expect, I dare say, all Lombard Street to a China orange.