likeness

[lahyk-nis]

noun

1. a representation, picture, or image, especially a portrait.

   to draw a good likeness of Churchill.

2. the state or fact of being like.

   I can't get over your likeness to my friend.

   Synonyms: similitude, resemblance

3. the semblance or appearance of something; guise.

   to assume the likeness of a swan.

   Synonyms: form, shape

likeness

/ ˈlaɪknɪs /

noun

1. the condition of being alike; similarity

2. a painted, carved, moulded, or graphic image of a person or thing

3. an imitative appearance; semblance

Word History and Origins

Origin of likeness¹

before 950; Middle English liknesse, Old English līcnes, variant of gelīcnes. See alike, -ness

Example Sentences

At 18, Ms. Vaill writes, Richard “may have started to resemble his uncle Alexander Hamilton” more than he did his father, a likeness that would also “express itself strikingly in Richard’s son.”

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His gaze lingered—how could it not?—on his own likeness, that of the “late” Edward Ashton.

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The burly man whose likeness stared down at her would never be mistaken for Quinzy, at least at first glance.

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Affixed with a one-cent stamp bearing the likeness of Queen Victoria herself, a letter would reach its destination within hours of the time it was sent.

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“Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind.”

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Related Words

• depiction 
• effigy 
• facsimile 
• image 
• photograph 
• portrait 
• replica 
• reproduction