liken
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
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.
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
“You can liken them to the next generation of the Boeings and the Northrup Grummans,” he said of new aerospace companies in town.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 22, 2026
Some liken it to the grip China enjoys today over cobalt production in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 23, 2025
‘You speak of what you do not know, when you liken Moria to the stronghold of Sauron,’ answered Gandalf.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
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.
