likeness

American  

[lahyk-nis] / ˈlaɪk nɪs /

noun

• likenesses
  plural

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

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likeness British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• likenesses
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of likeness

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

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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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

likeness likenesses

As actors face growing concerns about their voice, body and likeness being used without consent or compensation, the storyline resonated with the actors.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

Mendoza sued Peters for battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, fraud and unauthorized publication of her name and likeness.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

The current rules giving athletes the right to earn money from their name, image and likeness aren’t the same as giving them power over the institutions governing their careers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

But there’s one race that’s standing out, much as the likeness of an old man’s face once did on Cannon Mountain.

From Slate ● Sep. 19, 2026

Strangely, he found he had trouble even recalling her likeness.

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray

Kitaj is the most melancholy of all the likenesses, and the only one that Ashbery did not tuck away but placed against a fireplace in an upstairs sitting room.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

“The ideas are the ideas. But once you go down to creating likenesses, you know, people, faces, voices, that’s where people really get alarmed,” said Giansiracusa.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

Some actors worried that AI characters trained on human likenesses without permission or compensation could one day replace them in movies and shows.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026

The hospital should absolutely inform physicians if their names and likenesses are being employed in this way, and they should also be told in advance what patients will be solicited in their name.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026

They saw the likenesses of their foes and their friends: the sons of Atreus, old Priam stretching out his hand to Achilles, the dead Hector.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

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Related Words

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

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