like
/laɪ̯k/verb, noun, adjective, conjunction, preposition, particle
like is spelled L-I-K-E. The wrong spelling people search most is liek: about 40 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 132 of all searches for the word. Like is a verb meaning “To enjoy, be pleased by; favor; be in favor of”.
How many letters and syllables are in like?
| Letters | 4: L-I-K-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2,570 times per million words; the 44th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, liek, about 40 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell like?
Like is spelled L-I-K-E. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 88 of the searches for like in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is like?
Like appears 2,570 times per million words in written English, the 44th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce like?
- /laɪ̯k/
- /læ̙ːk/
- /lɑːk/
Like has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-to_like.ogg, En-us-like.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-like.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with like?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as like.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: kile.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of like
- likes present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- liking participle, present
- liked participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
- lak
- more like comparative
- most like superlative
- more -like comparative
- most -like superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does like mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To enjoy, be pleased by; favor; be in favor of.
I like reading books.
- 2
archaicTo please (same meaning as above but with subject and object reversed).
- 3
obsoleteTo derive pleasure [with of or by or with ‘from someone or something’].
- 4
To prefer and maintain (an action) as a regular habit or activity.
I like to go to the dentist every six months.
- 5
To find attractive; to prefer the company of; to have mild romantic feelings for.
I really like Sandra but don't know how to tell her.
- 6
To want, desire. See also would like.
Would you like a cigarette?
- 7
To show support for, or approval of, something posted on the Internet by marking it with a vote.
I liked my friend's last status on Facebook.
- 8
informalTo be prone to.
Too bad this cheese likes to stick to the pan and ruin the whole meal.
- 9
To be likely.
noun
- 1
Something that a person likes (prefers).
Tell me your likes and dislikes.
- 2
An individual vote showing support for, approval of, or enjoyment of, something posted on the Internet.
- 3
Someone similar to a given person, or something similar to a given object; a comparative; a type; a sort.
There were bowls full of sweets, chocolates and the like.
- 4
The stroke that equalizes the number of strokes played by the opposing player or side.
to play the like
adjective
- 1
Similar.
My partner and I have like minds.
- 2
ScotlandLikely; probable.
But it is like the jolly world about us will scoff at the paradox of these practices.
- 3
Scotlandinclined (to), prone (to).
He seems like to run from any semblance of hard work.
conjunction
- 1
colloquialAs, the way.
- 2
colloquialAs if; as though.
It looks like you've finished the project.
- 3
colloquialSuch as.
Why don’t we do something useful like clean the kitchen?
preposition
- 1
Similar to, reminiscent of.
Folk like that I just can’t brook.
- 2
Typical of.
It would be just like Achilles to be sulking in his tent.
- 3
Approximating.
Popcorn costs something like 10 dollars at the movies.
- 4
In the manner of, similarly to.
He doesn't act like a president.
- 5
Such as; including.
It's for websites like Wikipedia.
- 6
As if there would be.
It looks like a hot summer in Europe.
- 7
Used to ask for a description or opinion of someone or something.
I hear she has a new boyfriend. What's he like? –He's intelligent and handsome.
particle
- 1
IrelandScotlandcolloquialA delayed filler.
He was so angry, like.
- 2
colloquialIndicating approximation or uncertainty.
There were, like, twenty of them.
- 3
colloquialUsed to precede an approximate quotation or paraphrase or an expression of something that happened.
I was like, “Why did you do that?” and he's like, “I don't know.”
- 4
colloquialA discourse marker used to highlight or put focus on new information or a new development in a story.
She was, like, sooooo happy.
- 5
colloquialIntroduces an exemplification or demonstration of the previous statement
adverb
- 1
colloquialobsoleteLikely.
- 2
archaicrareIn a like or similar manner.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Like in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | aimer, plaire (à), bien aimer , plaire , plussoyer , préférence |
| German | mögen, gern haben, gefallen, gern , Vorliebe , Like |
| Portuguese | gostar , curtir, dar like , gosto , like, curtida |
| Spanish | gustarle , nonromantically: caerle, caer bien [with le and a], cuajarle , likear , me gusta |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does like come from?
Verb from Middle English liken, from Old English līcian (“to like, to please”), from Proto-West Germanic *līkēn, from Proto-Germanic *līkāną, from Proto-Indo-European *leyg- (“image; likeness; similarity”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).