likable
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of likable
Explanation
A likable person is agreeable and friendly. It's very easy to be fond of someone who's likable. Every student wants to take a class with the most likable teacher in your school, and your likable acquaintances find it easy to make friends. In books and movies, the characters who are the most sympathetic (and who we tend to root for) are the likable ones. You can spell this adjective with or without an e: likable and likeable are both correct.
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.
His film is likable as heck but never quite achieves liftoff.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
Listen, I don’t know anyone who liked Holden Caulfield the first time they read the book, probably because he is not supposed to be particularly likable; Salinger wrote the book for adults, not teens.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
You have a talent for playing complicated characters who at first might not seem likable and making them human and appealing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026
Nobody was better at playing a very handsome guy, the center of attention, who was also nonthreatening, not above a bit of slapstick, a little silly—above all, likable.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
The Texan turned out to be good-natured, generous and likable.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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.
