dislike
Americanverb (used with object)
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dislikes,
present (3rd person singular)
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disliked,
past participle, past
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disliking
present participle
noun
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dislikes
plural
verb
noun
Synonym Usage
Dislike, disgust, distaste, repugnance imply antipathy toward something. Dislike is a general word, sometimes connoting an inherent or permanent feeling of antipathy for something: to have a dislike for crowds. Disgust connotes a feeling of loathing for what is offensive to the feelings and sensibilities: He felt disgust at seeing such ostentation. Distaste implies a more or less settled dislike: to have distaste for spicy foods, for hard work. Repugnance is a strong feeling of aversion for, and antagonism toward, something: to feel repugnance for (or toward ) low criminals.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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predislikenoun
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self-dislikenoun
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dislikableadjective
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dislikeableadjective
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self-dislikedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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dislikesimple
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dislikessimple
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have dislikedperfect
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has dislikedperfect
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am dislikingprogressive
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are dislikingprogressive
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is dislikingprogressive
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have been dislikingperfect progressive
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has been dislikingperfect progressive
Past
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dislikedsimple
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had dislikedperfect
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was dislikingprogressive
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were dislikingprogressive
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had been dislikingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dislike
Explanation
Put simply, to dislike can be used as a transitive verb that means to "not like." Maybe you dislike spinach. But it can also be a noun, as in "You seem to have developed quite a dislike for spinach." English being a language of trial-and-error, the word dislike came about in the mid-16th Century, as modern English was still in its infancy. At that time, some words were tried and discarded, to be replaced with others that stuck. That was the case with dislike, which developed after the word "mislike" was dropped as the opposite of "like." Speaking of prefixes, don't confuse the word dislike with "unlike," which means that something is different from something else.
Vocabulary lists containing dislike
Power Prefix: dis-
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dis-
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: dis-
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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.
See Examples For:
For a fighter who has never hidden her dislike of media interviews, there was something striking about the confidence with which she walked around the ring, microphone in hand, soaking up the final moments.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
When it came to film however, "I don't dislike it at all," he added.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
Most Americans dislike data centers: 75% of people say they would oppose a data center being built near where they live, according to one poll by Heatmap Pro.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 4, 2026
Firms generally dislike the messy, prolonged mechanics of exiting the investment, along with the risk of falling share prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Bobby fully expected to hate the camp—or at least dislike it—but he found that he enjoyed many of the physical activities it offered.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
“Road Runner admits that he sees Coyote, even whenever Wile E. dislikes him or doesn’t think that he’s looking. It’s so nice to be seen like that.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
"The challenge goes way beyond just putting AI into a robot," said Lian Jye Su from technology research group Omdia, who dislikes the term "physical AI" for downplaying the complexity of the hardware solutions needed.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
Maybe he just really dislikes the entire program and wasn’t targeting Haitians in particular.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
For someone now praised for her lyrics, Reble insists she dislikes writing.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
“Mama dislikes being disturbed in an evening,” remarked Eliza.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
A disliked corner of the stock market really isn’t as bad as it seems, according to StoneX.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
He rarely issued press releases, didn’t convene news conferences, and disliked raising campaign money.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
The 30-year-old told AFP in Venice she disliked fame and celebrity, but Gyllenhaal tipped her for even greater success.
From Barron's ● Sep. 12, 2026
Singers like D’Angelo and Maxwell and rap acts including Common and the Roots were also part of the scene, but like many creative people Ms. Badu disliked being pigeonholed and rejected the label.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
Not home in the bukshah fields with Star, who loved him, but on the Mountain with Strong Jonn, who disliked him, Marlie and Allun, who pitied him, and Bronden, Val, and Ellis, who despised him.
From "Rowan of Rin" by Emily Rodda
Yet she often avoids office collections on principle, not personality, disliking how impersonal they can feel.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
When the bubble is big enough, it shifts the behavior of the market as a whole from disliking capital expenditure, and hating speculative capital spending in particular, to loving it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2025
Some readers confessed to never having seen the film whose soundtrack they love; others even reported disliking it.
From New York Times ● May 26, 2024
“It’s not a matter of liking or disliking dogs,” she said.
From Seattle Times ● May 15, 2023
"I have a lot of reasons for disliking Alaska, OK?"
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
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.
