like
like - English
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
- enPR: līk, IPA: /laɪ̯k/
- (MLE, Jamaica) IPA: /læ̙ːk/, /lɑːk/
- (Dublin English) IPA: /lɔɪ̯k/
Verb
like (third-person singular simple present likes, present participle liking, simple past and past participle liked)
- To enjoy, be pleased by; favor; be in favor of.
- (transitive, archaic) To please.
- (obsolete) To derive pleasure of, by or with someone or something.
- To prefer and maintain (an action) as a regular habit or activity.
- I like to go to the dentist every six months.
- She likes to keep herself physically fit.
- we like to keep one around the office just in case.
- (obsolete) To have an appearance or expression; to look; to seem to be (in a specified condition).
- (archaic) To come near; to avoid with difficulty; to escape narrowly.
- He liked to have been too late.
- To find attractive; to prefer the company of; to have mild romantic feelings for.
- (obsolete) To liken; to compare.
- (Internet, transitive) To show support for, or approval of, something posted on the Internet by marking it with a vote.
- (with 'would' and in certain other phrases) To want, desire. See also would like.
- Would you like a cigarette?
- We could go to the museum if you like.
- I don't like to disturb him when he's working.
- (informal, chiefly in the negative) Of a computer or other system: to tolerate as an input; to accept.
- This self-service checkout doesn't seem to like my credit card.
- We were frustrated that our seeming innocent choice for a team name was rejected by the game. Apparently somewhere in the name is a word that the algorithm doesn’t like.
Usage notes
- In its senses of “enjoy” and “maintain as a regular habit”, like is a catenative verb; in the former, it usually takes a gerund (-ing form), while in the latter, it takes a to-infinitive. See also English catenative verbs.
- Like is only used to mean “want” in certain expressions, such as “if you like” and “I would like”. The conditional form, would like, is used quite freely as a polite synonym for want.
Conjugation
Derived terms
Related terms
Descendants
- Jersey Dutch: lāike
Translations
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Noun
like (plural likes)
- (chiefly in the plural) Something that a person likes (prefers).
- Synonyms: favorite, preference
- Antonyms: dislike, pet hate, pet peeve
- Tell me your likes and dislikes.
- (Internet) An individual vote showing support for, approval of, or enjoyment of, something posted on the Internet.
Translations
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Adjective
like (comparative more like, superlative most like)
- Similar.
- My partner and I have like minds.
- The two cats were as like as though they had come from the same litter.
- (archaic or Scotland, Southern US) Likely; probable.
- (Scotland, Southern US, otherwise archaic, usually with to) inclined (to), prone (to).
- He seems like to run from any semblance of hard work.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
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Adverb
like (comparative more like, superlative most like)
- (obsolete, colloquial) Likely.
- (archaic or rare) In a like or similar manner.
Noun
like (countable and uncountable, plural likes)
- (sometimes as the likes of) Someone similar to a given person, or something similar to a given object; a comparative; a type; a sort.
- There were bowls full of sweets, chocolates and the like.
- It was something the likes of which I had never seen before.
- (golf) The stroke that equalizes the number of strokes played by the opposing player or side.
- to play the like
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
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Conjunction
like
See Usage notes below.
- (colloquial) As, the way.
- (usually colloquial) As if; as though.
- It looks like you've finished the project.
- It seemed like you didn't care.
Usage notes
- The American Heritage Dictionary opines that using like as a conjunction, instead of as, the way, as if, or as though, is strictly informal; it has, however, been routine since the Middle English period. AHD4 says, "Writers since Chaucer's time have used like as a conjunction, but 19th-century and 20th-century critics have been so vehement in their condemnations of this usage that a writer who uses the construction in formal style risks being accused of illiteracy or worse", and recommends using as in formal speech and writing. The Oxford English Dictionary does not tag it as colloquial or nonstandard, but notes, "Used as conj[unction]: = 'like as', 'as'. Now generally condemned as vulgar or slovenly, though examples may be found in many recent writers of standing."
Derived terms
- be like
- feel like
- like it's going out of style
- make like
- look like
- seem like
- sound like
- would like
Preposition
like
- Similar to, reminiscent of
- Typical of
- It would be just like Achilles to be sulking in his tent.
- Approximating
- Popcorn costs something like $10 dollars at the movies.
- In the manner of, similarly to
- He doesn't act like a president.
- Such as
- It's for websites like Wikipedia.
- As if there would be
- It looks like a hot summer in Europe.
- Used to ask for a description or opinion of someone or something
- I hear she has a new boyfriend. What's he like?
- What's the weather like in Ürümqi today?
Synonyms
- (such as): for example, such as, (archaic) as
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
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Particle
like
- Likely.
- (colloquial, Scotland, Ireland, Tyneside, Teesside, Liverpudlian) A delayed filler.
- He was so angry, like.
- (colloquial) Indicating approximation or uncertainty.
- There were, like, twenty of them.
- She was, like, sooooo happy.
- (colloquial, slang) Used to precede an approximate quotation or paraphrase or an expression of something that happened.
- I was like, “Why did you do that?” and he's like, “I don't know.”
- And then he, like, got all angry and left the room.
- A customer walked in like, "I demand to see the manager!"
Usage notes
The use as a quotative is informal; it is commonly used by young people, and commonly disliked by older generations, especially in repeated use. It may be combined with the use of the present tense as a narrative. (For its use preceded by a form of be, see be like.) Similar terms are to go and all, as in I go, “Why did you do that?” and he goes, “I don't know” and I was all, “Why did you do that?” and he was all, “I don't know.” These expressions can imply that the attributed remark which follows is representative rather than necessarily an exact quotation; however, in speech these structures do tend to require mimicking the original speaker's inflection in a way said would not.
Excessive use of "like" as a meaningless filler is widely criticised.
Synonyms
Translations
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Verb
like (third-person singular simple present likes, present participle liking, simple past and past participle liked)
- (chiefly dialectal, intransitive) To be likely.
Anagrams
like - Chinese
Pronunciation
- Cantonese (Jyutping): lai1 ki2
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: lai1 ki2
- Yale: lāi kí
- Cantonese Pinyin: lai1 ki2
- Guangdong Romanization: lei1 ki2
- Sinological IPA : /lɐi̯⁵⁵ kʰiː³⁵/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
Noun
like
- (Hong Kong Cantonese, social media) like
- (Hong Kong Cantonese, figuratively) appreciation; approval
Derived terms
- 呃like
- 畀like
Verb
like
like - Danish
Pronunciation
- IPA: [lɑjɡ̊]
Noun
like n (singular definite liket, plural indefinite likes)
- (Internet) like
- Den fik 30.000 likes i løbet af en halv time, hvilket er ret meget.
- It received 30,000 likes in the course of half an hour, which is quite a lot.
Verb
like (imperative like, infinitive at like, present tense liker, past tense likede, perfect tense har liket)
- (Internet) to like
- Han havde liket sin egen kommentar.
- He had liked his own comment.
like - French
Pronunciation
Verb
like
- inflection of liker:
- first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
- second-person singular imperative
like - German
Verb
like
- inflection of liken:
- first-person singular present
- first/third-person singular subjunctive I
- singular imperative
like - Hawaiian
Pronunciation
- IPA: /ˈli.ke/, [ˈlike]
Verb
like
Derived terms
like - Norwegian Bokmål
Verb
like (imperative lik, present tense liker, simple past likte, past participle likt)
- to like
Adjective
like
Adverb
like
Derived terms
like - Norwegian Nynorsk
Pronunciation
- IPA: /²liːkə/
Alternative forms
Verb
like (imperative lik or like, present tense likar or liker, simple past lika or likte, past participle lika or likt)
- to like
Adjective
like
Adverb
like
- as, equally
- Dei er like høge.
- They are equally tall. / They are as tall as each other.
- just, immediately
- Han kom fram like før det stengte.
- He got there just before it closed.
like - Scots
Verb
like (third-person singular simple present likes, present participle likin, simple past likit, past participle likit)
Adverb
like (not comparable)
Interjection
like
- (South Scots) Used to place emphasis upon a statement.
- Oo jist saw it the now, like. ― We like, just now saw it.
like - Spanish
Pronunciation
- IPA: /ˈlaik/ [ˈlai̯k]
Noun
like m (plural likes)
Usage notes
According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.
like - Swedish
Adjective
like
Noun
like c
- match (someone similarly skillful)
- Han hade mött sin like
- He had met his match
Declension
| Declension of like | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
| Nominative | like | liken | likar | likarna |
| Genitive | likes | likens | likars | likarnas |