likeness
Americannoun
-
a representation, picture, or image, especially a portrait.
to draw a good likeness of Churchill.
-
the state or fact of being like.
I can't get over your likeness to my friend.
- Synonyms:
- similitude, resemblance
-
the semblance or appearance of something; guise.
to assume the likeness of a swan.
noun
-
the condition of being alike; similarity
-
a painted, carved, moulded, or graphic image of a person or thing
-
an imitative appearance; semblance
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of likeness
before 950; Middle English liknesse, Old English līcnes, variant of gelīcnes. See alike, -ness
Explanation
A likeness is a portrait, or a head-turning resemblance. George Washington’s likeness appears on the dollar bill. A potato might bear an uncanny likeness to my grandfather. Likeness has nothing to do with liking someone or something––it’s all about what something looks like. It’s been in use since before the 12th century, when likenesses had to be drawn or painted, rather than snapped with a digital camera. If the only picture you had of your mom was one your brother drew, you would value it more if it was a good likeness, meaning it really looked “like” her.
Vocabulary lists containing likeness
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act II
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Stories of Ourselves
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Trash
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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.
The public tool available online will allow anyone to register how they want their identity -- name, image, voice, likeness, movement and/or other personal attributes -- to be used by artificial intelligence systems.
From Barron's • Jun. 23, 2026
It was one of the first activewear brands to work with student athletes in 2021, following a Supreme Court ruling that permitted college athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 15, 2026
As the cartoon likeness of Gilgeous-Alexander states in the Unethical Hoops ad, “so much as breathe on me, I’m getting the call.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2026
A new bipartisan college-sports bill aims to regulate the name, image and likeness era in college sports.
From MarketWatch • May 28, 2026
This apparently contradictory object turned Brunelleschi’s drawing, almost magically, into such a good likeness of the three-dimensional Baptistery building that it was indistinguishable from the real thing.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
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.
