liken
lik·en/ˈlaɪkən/verb
liken is spelled L-I-K-E-N: 5 letters and 2 syllables (lik·en). It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 48,775th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, liken means “Followed by to or (archaic) unto: to regard or state that (someone or something) is like another person or thing; to compare” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in liken?
| Letters | 5: L-I-K-E-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: lik·en |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 48,775th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; 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 common is liken?
Liken appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 48,775th 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 liken?
- UK /ˈlaɪk(ə)n/
- US /ˈlaɪkən/
Liken has 2 syllables, split lik·en in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-liken.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with liken
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: lichen, lycan (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with liken?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as liken (/aɪkən/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: kline, inkle.
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 liken
- likens present, singular, he/she/it
- likening participle, present
- likened participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does liken mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
Followed by to or (archaic) unto: to regard or state that (someone or something) is like another person or thing; to compare.
The physics teacher likened the effect of mass on space to an indentation in a sheet of rubber.
- 2
rareChiefly followed by to: to make (oneself, someone, or something) resemble another person or thing.
- 3
rareTo represent or symbolize (something).
- 4
obsoleteFollowed by to: to be like or resemble; also, to become like.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Liken in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to regard or state that (someone or something) is like another person or thing –:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | comparer |
| German | vergleichen |
| Portuguese | comparar |
| Spanish | comparar, asemejar |
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.