likelihood
/ˈlaɪklihʊd/noun
likelihood is spelled L-I-K-E-L-I-H-O-O-D. The wrong spelling people search most is liklihood: about 200 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 10 of all searches for the word. Likelihood is a noun meaning “The probability of a specified outcome; the chance of something happening; probability; the state or degree…”. The plural of likelihood is likelihoods.
How many letters and syllables are in likelihood?
| Letters | 10: L-I-K-E-L-I-H-O-O-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 8.1 times per million words; the 8,146th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, liklihood, about 200 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
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).
How do you spell likelihood?
Likelihood is spelled L-I-K-E-L-I-H-O-O-D. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 10 of the searches for likelihood 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 likelihood?
Likelihood appears 8.1 times per million words in written English, the 8,146th 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 likelihood?
- /ˈlaɪklihʊd/
Likelihood has 3 syllables (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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-likelihood.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of likelihood
- likelihoods plural
- likelyhood
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does likelihood mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The probability of a specified outcome; the chance of something happening; probability; the state or degree of being probable.
In all likelihood the meeting will be cancelled.
- 2
The probability that some fixed outcome was generated by a random distribution with a specific parameter.
- 3
Likeness, resemblance.
- 4
archaicAppearance, show, sign, expression.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Likelihood in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | vraisemblance |
| German | Wahrscheinlichkeit |
| Portuguese | probabilidade , verossimilhança , semelhança |
| Spanish | probabilidad , verosimilitud |
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 likelihood come from?
From Middle English liklihode, equivalent to likely + -hood.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).