- present participle of like.
liking
Americannoun
-
likings
plural
-
preference, inclination, or favor.
to show a liking for privacy.
- Synonyms:
- affection, fondness, partiality, predilection, propensity, leaning
- Antonyms:
- antipathy
-
pleasure or taste.
much to his liking.
-
the state or feeling of a person who likes.
noun
-
the feeling of a person who likes; fondness
-
a preference, inclination, or pleasure
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of liking
before 900; Middle English; Old English līcung. See like 2, -ing 1
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:
My dummy account, Mohammed, was a profile set to private and designed to look similar to the accounts of younger Moroccan people who were liking and commenting on the posts advertising crossings.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
A mistake many people make, Bobby says, is thinking that really, really liking someone should supersede whatever challenges they might face.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
After one month, three months, and six months, participants were asked whether their liking for sweet foods or their perception of sweetness had changed.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026
Joked McDaniel: “For fantasy owners out there, if you’re not liking your output, you have Max to blame.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
“How’s school going? Are you liking it so far?”
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
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They are, wrote Dickens, “the curious old records of likings and dislikings; of jealousies and revenges; of affection defying the power of death, and hatred pursued beyond the grave.”
From The Guardian ● Jun. 12, 2015
In matters of art, Blake's hates were as passionate and as swollen with moral assurance as his likings.
From Time Magazine Archive
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Yamaha was fourth, not because it's a bad bike, but I think it caters to the likings of intermediates and pros.
From Time Magazine Archive
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For shops that do it right, there are plenty of lines that a longboard customer should be able to pick through to find his or her likings.
From Time Magazine Archive
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Hobbits have a passion for mushrooms, surpassing even the greediest likings of Big People.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
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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.