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
Etymology
Origin of likeness
before 950; Middle English liknesse, Old English līcnes, variant of gelīcnes. See alike, -ness
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.
Nova said she and other friends in the industry “are having to double, triple check our contracts to make sure that we’re not accidentally signing away our likeness for use of AI purposes.”
From Salon • Mar. 23, 2026
It took three decades of battles and lobbying for Cesar Chavez’s name and likeness to grace hundreds of buildings, roads, parks and schools.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 21, 2026
Sir Keir Starmer may have had a tough year in office, but in one key measure he is top of the shop: the Toby Jug in his likeness outsold all other prime ministers in 2025.
From BBC • Mar. 20, 2026
As a teen he attended a rally with the Hispanic labor and civil-rights icon and for years he has lived across from a school bearing Chavez’s name and a giant mural of his likeness.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026
Inside its tiny attic, does some tiny likeness of Marie- Laure wait, listening?
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
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.
