liken
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
likensimple
-
likenssimple
-
have likenedperfect
-
has likenedperfect
-
am likeningprogressive
-
are likeningprogressive
-
is likeningprogressive
-
have been likeningperfect progressive
-
has been likeningperfect progressive
Past
-
likenedsimple
-
had likenedperfect
-
was likeningprogressive
-
were likeningprogressive
-
had been likeningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of liken
First recorded in 1275–1325, liken is from the Middle English word liknen. See like 1, -en 1
Explanation
When you liken one thing to another, you compare them and point out what they have in common. You might liken your long walk to school to your ancestors' voyage across the ocean to the New World. When you equate two things, or emphasize their similarities, you liken them. You could liken your experience at the dentist to torture, or liken your dad's skill at baking pies to that of Rembrandt painting a portrait. Your grandmother might liken her romance with your grandfather to a fairy tale, and you could then liken the day you spent listening to her stories to watching a long, dull movie.
Vocabulary lists containing liken
The Most Beautiful Roof in the World
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Finding Langston
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Flora and Ulysses
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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.
"Because I knew him from before, my defenses were down," says Liken.
From Time Magazine Archive
"Liken not your old friend unto a Bath bun," said he.
From The Red Thumb Mark by Freeman, R. Austin (Richard Austin)
"Liken thou that, O Conaire," says every one: "what is this noise?"
From The Harvard Classics, Volume 49, Epic and Saga With Introductions And Notes by Eliot, Charles William
"Liken thou, O Fer rogain, him who has sung that lay."
From The Harvard Classics, Volume 49, Epic and Saga With Introductions And Notes by Eliot, Charles William
Liken it to anything, if you have the heart.
From Egmont by Swanwick, Anna
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.
