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:
One of the world's most versatile actors, he mastered both comedy and tragedy, science-fiction and historical drama - despite the entertainment industry's traditional dislike of bald heads.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
With a huge transfer under way, you may inherit shares of companies that you dislike.
From Barron's ● Oct. 24, 2026
While some presidents have clearly enjoyed Camp David more than others, Trump has made no secret of his deep dislike of it.
From Salon ● Oct. 10, 2026
In addition to uniting creators who often disagreed, dislike of data centers and AI traveled into corners of TikTok that rarely touch politics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
Olanna looked at him, from his halo of hair to his slender toes in leather sandals, alarmed that she could feel this burst of dislike for someone she loved.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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
"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
She said there are few foods she dislikes but she is especially fond of steak.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Pocock asked him about his likes and dislikes, the things that made him get up in the morning, the things he feared.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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
Penelope had met the haughty baroness on several occasions, and each time she had disliked her more than the last—a trend, she feared, that was about to continue.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
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
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
Rice in America has gotten a bad reputation, Johnson says, with some nutritionists disliking its starchiness and tendency to cause spikes in blood sugar.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 25, 2023
Polly, who was disliking the Queen and feeling rather sulky, would not have let her hand be taken if she could have helped it.
From "The Magician's Nephew" by C. S. Lewis
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
