Which to use
“likely” is an adjective and “liken” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #637
- “likely” frequency rank
- #48,864
- “liken” frequency rank
- 49501
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | likely | liken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Probable; having a greater-than-even chance of occurring. | Followed by to or (archaic) unto: to regard or state that (someone or something) is like another person or thing; to compare. |
Where the eye mixes likely and liken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: likely is /ˈlaɪkli/ while liken is /ˈlaɪk(ə)n/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49501, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
likely is recorded at frequency rank #637, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈlaɪkli/. liken is at rank #48,864, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈlaɪk(ə)n/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 49501, this pair ranks #182,971 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of likely vs liken
Shared letters: eikl. Private to "likely": y. Private to "liken": n.
"likely" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "liken" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC