likely

\ˈlaɪk.li\

/\ˈlaɪk.li\/ adj

The verdict

“likely” is uncommon French (frequency #85,877 among 2,567 “L” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#85,877
frequency rank, French
2,567
“L” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Vraisemblable, plausible.

Corpus desk

Index FR-likely · likely · French

likely · rank #85,877 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #85,877
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,567
  • PHOTO-FINISH libellée

Nearest frequency peer: libellée (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rangs de longue queue près de « likely »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « likely » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for likely
PropertyValue
Headwordlikely
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\ˈlaɪk.li\
Letters6
Frequency rank#85,877
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « likely » en français

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).likelytombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Voisins rares de la même bande: « libellée » (#85,876), « limoge » (#85,878), « Libano » (#85,875). Parmi 2,567 lemmes en « L », « likely » est au #85,877. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

likely is uncommon French at frequency #85,877 among 2,567 “L” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed \ˈlaɪk.li\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Vraisemblable, plausible.".

No misspelling variants are generated for likely in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

No documented word history exists for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is likely, spelled L-I-K-E-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Vraisemblable, plausible.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how likely appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Because it is not only simpler, but, arguably, more natural, extended sequence unpacking will likely become widespread in Python code over time.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "likely"?
"likely" is spelled L-I-K-E-L-Y. The IPA pronunciation is \ˈlaɪk.li\.
What does "likely" mean?
As an adjective, "likely" means: Vraisemblable, plausible.
How do you pronounce "likely"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "likely" is \ˈlaɪk.li\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "likely" come from?
"likely" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "likely", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list