liken
Americanverb (used with object)
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likens,
present (3rd person singular)
-
likened,
past participle, past
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likening
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
likensimple
-
likenssimple
-
have likenedperfect
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has likenedperfect
-
am likeningprogressive
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are likeningprogressive
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is likeningprogressive
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have been likeningperfect progressive
-
has been likeningperfect progressive
Past
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likenedsimple
-
had likenedperfect
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was likeningprogressive
-
were likeningprogressive
-
had been likeningperfect progressive
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
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Finding Langston
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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:
“I would liken the trading and modeling to the striker, or the guy who kicks the ball in the goal at the end of the play,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026
Some researchers liken the mind to a snow globe: the drugs temporarily disrupt established thought patterns, allowing thoughts and feelings to settle differently and providing new perspectives on past experiences.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
While it would be terrific to liken her fate to that of Deborah Vance on “Hacks,” at least Jean Smart’s diva got a Vegas rebirth.
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026
Analysts are largely bullish on both companies and liken picking which one they prefer to choosing a favorite child.
From MarketWatch ● May 25, 2026
Many would later liken the pairing of Morrow and Halliday to that of Jobs and Wozniak or Lennon and McCartney.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
Researchers hope the databases created using the digitised text -- which he likens to a kind of "huge Facebook of the past" -- could help bring to light links between people, places and ideas.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
Our call of the day comes from the investor known as the bond king, Jeffrey Gundlach, who likens stock markets to a hollow tree that’s about to break.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026
It is no bigger than a fingertip, but has comically large antennae - which Hughes likens to "big floppy ears".
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
Chandra Scott, executive director of Alabama Possible, which oversees the state’s direct-admission program, likens the sign-up form for students to a social-media profile: something they can do “in their sleep.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
He likens himself to “a simple worshipper of the eternal Buddha,” he tells both Theo and Gauguin.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
A top chipmaker’s chief executive likened some AI investors’ behavior to gambling.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
The other was Broadcom CEO Hock Tan, who likened many AI investors to casino gamblers.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026
Adding to the unease among traders were comments from Broadcom CEO Hock Tan, who likened the recent investor AI buying frenzy to gambling.
From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026
I think you’ve likened it to putting down a dog.
From Slate ● Oct. 6, 2026
On the top step he let out a shriek that one witness likened to the scream of a skyrocket.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
Tech firms took a hammering on Tuesday amid concerns about China's progress in developing AI chips and following comments by Broadcom's boss likening the AI buying frenzy to gambling.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
Some may take issue with likening Oprah Winfrey to J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb.
From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026
Obama, of course, isn’t a ghost, and he has been talking up some of the same candidates others are likening to him.
From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2026
Bessent dubbed the initiative Economic D-Day, likening the effort to the World War II campaign.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
There is the same finding of new analogies, and likening of disparate things; there is the same transformation of our apperception.
From The Sense of Beauty Being the Outlines of Aesthetic Theory by George Santayana
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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.
