liken
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have likenedperfect
-
has likenedperfect 3rd person singular
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is likeningprogressive 3rd person singular
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have been likeningperfect progressive
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likenssingular 3rd person
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are likeningprogressive
-
am likeningprogressive 1st person singular
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has been likeningperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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likeningparticiple
Past
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had likenedperfect
-
had been likeningperfect progressive
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was likeningprogressive singular
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were likeningprogressive plural
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likenedsimple
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likenedparticiple
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.
"I liken us to an island and it has often felt hard to imagine anyone joining that island," she said.
From BBC • Jun. 7, 2026
Smith said he packed, so it wasn’t “too dreadful,” but the Air Force veteran did liken the evacuation to a deployment, owing primarily to the uncertainty of how long the evacuation might last.
From Los Angeles Times • May 23, 2026
This "is what replacing looks like," added Polanski, a charismatic figurehead some liken to New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and who only took charge of the Greens last September.
From Barron's • Feb. 27, 2026
Experts and activists liken it to searching for a snowball in a blizzard.
From Slate • Feb. 4, 2026
Other commentators liken the prison label to “the mark of Cain” and characterize the perpetual nature of the sanction as “internal exile.”
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
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.
