liken
Americanverb (used with object)
-
likens,
present (3rd person singular)
-
likened,
past participle, past
-
likening
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
likensimple
-
likenssimple
-
have likenedperfect
-
has likenedperfect
-
am likeningprogressive
-
are likeningprogressive
-
is likeningprogressive
-
have been likeningperfect progressive
-
has been likeningperfect progressive
Past
-
likenedsimple
-
had likenedperfect
-
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
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.
See Examples For:
"I liken us to an island and it has often felt hard to imagine anyone joining that island," she said.
From BBC ● Jun. 7, 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
Out of magnanimity, I’ll liken this trifle to a Rothko.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026
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
Other commentators liken the prison label to “the mark of Cain” and characterize the perpetual nature of the sanction as “internal exile.”
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
She likens it to the warm spaces opened during the pandemic for people who couldn't afford to heat their homes.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
She likens it to being an athlete who qualifies to represent their country at the Olympics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
Tart and sweet, Lev Sercarz likens sumac to a “red-wine vinegar powder of sorts.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026
Toussaint likens them to one of TV’s greatest prime time soap operas: “It’s like when I was a kid, and we watched ‘Dallas.’
From Salon ● Jun. 21, 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
Mark Cabana, head of rates strategy at BofA Global Research, likened Warsh to a person saying they are firmly committed to losing 15 pounds but without exercise, diet or using GLP-1 drugs.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
Vaughters likened his comments to rolling “a grenade down the aisle,” but the blast was both explanatory and useful.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
The singer, who likened herself to an “all-season” hibernating bear, said “I have not stopped living, and I have not stopped working” amid her health issues.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Mark Peter Simmonds, director of science at OceanCare, likened it to "human formal meals where socialising as well as nutrition are in play".
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
One facility manager likened the chair to lawn furniture or old-fashioned car-seat covers.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
Merlin has often been called a "Shazam for birds" - likening it to Apple's app letting users identify a song playing using a phone's microphone.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
The CJP, which has millions of followers on social media, emerged in May initially as a satirical response to Chief Justice Surya Kant reportedly likening young people to "cockroaches" and "parasites" during a court hearing.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
Prior believes Snell will need at least four to five outings, likening it to a spring training buildup.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
Bernstein analyst Madison Rezaei initially flagged the possibility of such a risk to neoclouds in a March note, likening CoreWeave’s business model to a “situationship,” or a noncommittal romantic entanglement.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
Concerning these matters, I take it, God teaches us by likening them to such things as we know that shall give the best conceit of them to our minds.
From Joyce Morrell's Harvest The Annals of Selwick Hall by Holt, Emily Sarah
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.
