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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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:
If you dislike or even detest this film, I don’t seek to negate your feelings.
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026
“I personally dislike this style,” said Nathan Luckock, a 20-year-old engineer at an AI startup.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
For some, though, the choice is less about a dislike of bold nails and more about simplifying their routine.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
He appears to sincerely dislike the idea that his candidacy should be a story about his identity at all.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
With its dislike of geography and its objection to the occasional tasty treat?”
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
Cage solved my next problem by insisting that the way to discover new things is to overcome our dependence on our likes and dislikes, those supposed pillars of criticism.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
“Whether or not someone dislikes rankings, one has to acknowledge that there are huge differences in how universities educate students,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
“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
Once that message is well and truly ingrained in you, it feels like vainglory to imagine one’s own likes and dislikes could matter to other people.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
Asked about the incident at a news conference with Bulgaria's leader on Thursday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he disliked "labelling something as sabotage versus an accident without 100% certainty, but it looks bad".
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
A disliked corner of the stock market really isn’t as bad as it seems, according to StoneX.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 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
She’s won praise for removing a widely disliked Xbox AI assistant and making it easier for people who own games on discs to get digital copies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026
And so she appeased Tochi, putting America down, talking only about the things she, too, disliked about America, exaggerating her non-American accent, until the conversation became an enervating charade.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
He describes a kind of grief and irritation as Diana becomes public property and then royal property, which irks him even more, disliking the "nonsense of fawning" around the monarchy.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
She was vague about her reasons for disliking Epstein.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 31, 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
Mulvaney then told Barrymore, “I look at someone like you and can’t imagine anybody disliking you.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 14, 2023
She explained in a steely tone that she had wanted to remain anonymous, disliking publicity after the circumstances of her husband’s death.
From "Chasing Vermeer" by Blue Balliett
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
