unlikely
Americanadjective
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not likely to be or occur; improbable; marked by doubt.
-
holding little prospect of success; unpromising; likely to fail.
He is an unlikely candidate for reelection.
-
not ingratiating; objectionable.
adverb
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of unlikely
First recorded in 1325–75, unlikely is from the Middle English word unlikli. See un- 1, likely
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:
The plan is to announce the new contract once all details have been agreed, which is unlikely to be before the weekend.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
In both cases, an unlikely newcomer chips away at the grime of the world to uncover a core of beauty.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026
Standing before L.A. mayoral candidate Nithya Raman was the coalition that made her unlikely rise happen, paralleling the one that made the Democratic Party’s takeover of the House and Senate possible.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026
But Turkey's nuclear expansion, with two more plants in the pipeline, was unlikely to add enough baseload capacity to replace coal-fired electricity generation before around 2040, Danis said.
From Barron's ● Nov. 5, 2026
An abandoned sugar plantation on the marshy banks of the Mississippi River seems an unlikely place for a world-class hospital, but that’s exactly where Carville began.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Then the next game turned out to be even unlikelier.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 12, 2026
Soon, Gef appeared in an even unlikelier place: the British courts.
From National Geographic ● Sep. 19, 2023
Some of the suggested new tributes reach into unlikelier cultural realms.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2022
To imagine an even unlikelier hypothetical, let’s take Beijing at its word and imagine it would allow Facebook a fair playing field.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 31, 2018
If he's shamming—and unlikelier things have happened, now you mention it—the doctor finds him out.
From Nicky-Nan, Reservist by Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
El-Sayed thanked the crowd in the early hours of Wednesday morning for taking a chance on "the unlikeliest of candidates", saying his win was theirs.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
He told voters: "You took a chance on the unlikeliest of candidates."
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
Balancing sorrow with self-deprecation, Maron covers childhood abuse, his father’s dementia, evacuating his home with three cats during the L.A. fires and becoming the unlikeliest of Swifties.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026
The mastermind behind ASML’s unlikeliest hit product is a data analyst named Rick Lenssen—or, as he’s now known to some colleagues, Brick Lenssen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026
And our little old million-dollar-a-rod hill is the unlikeliest place to look for a mine I ever did see.
From Copper Streak Trail by Eugene Manlove Rhodes
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
