alike
Americanadverb
-
in the same manner or form; similarly.
They treated all customers alike.
- Antonyms:
- differently
-
to the same degree; equally.
All three were guilty alike.
adjective
adjective
adverb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of alike
First recorded before 950; Middle English alyke, from Scandinavian; compare Old Norse ālīkr, cognate with Old English onlīc, Old High German analīh; replacing Middle English ilich, Old English gelīc, cognate with Old Saxon gilīk, Old High German gilīh ( German gleich ), Gothic galeiks, Old Norse (g)līkr; see like 1
Explanation
If two things are alike, they resemble or are similar to each other. You and your sister might be alike in many ways, including your love for strawberry ice cream. If all the houses in your neighborhood look alike, it's hard to tell one from another, and if their parents always dress twin brothers alike, it's going to be impossible for people to remember who's who. Things that are alike are the same. The original form of the word was aliche, from the Old English gelic, "similar," with a Germanic root, which it shares with the word like.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I bought a Hemingway-style fishing hat and then read a list of suggestions posted by a veteran contestant on the Hemingway Look Alike Society Facebook page that said do not wear a hat on stage.
From Washington Times • Jul. 27, 2023
He penned three nationally syndicated, weekly comic strips —"Boob McNutt," "Mike and Ike: They Look Alike," and "Lala Palooza" — and wrote a single-frame cartoon called "Foolish Questions."
From The Verge • Apr. 22, 2015
The document, titled “All Are Alike Unto God,” asks the men who run the church to consider women’s ordination, which officials in Salt Lake City say is out of the question.
From New York Times • Mar. 6, 2014
Streaked shearwater photographed on Mikura Island; image by Kanachoro, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
From Scientific American • Feb. 10, 2013
Alike from the military and from the commercial point of view no city could have been better placed.
From The Byzantine Empire by Oman, Charles William Chadwick
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
