likely synonyms

likely

modif.

  1. Probable

    apparent, probable, seeming, credible, possible, feasible, presumable, conceivable, reasonable, conjecturable, practicable, workable, attainable, achievable, ostensible, surmisable, inferable, believable, rational, thinkable, imaginable, plausible, to be supposed, supposable, to be guessed, anticipated, expected, imminent, destined, assumable, grantable, persuasive, warrantable, as like as not.

    Antonyms impossible*, doubtful*, questionable. *

  2. Promising

    suitable, apt, assuring; see fit 1, 2, hopeful 2.

  3. Believable

    plausible, true, acceptable; see convincing 2.

  4. Apt

    inclined, tending, disposed, predisposed, apt, prone, liable, subject to, on the verge of, in the habit of, given to, in favor of, having a weakness for.

likely suggests probability or an eventuality that can reasonably be expected he's not likely to win; liable and apt are loosely or informally used equivalents of likely, but in strict discrimination, liable implies exposure or susceptibility to something undesirable you're liable to hurt yourself playing with that knife and apt suggests a natural or habitual inclination or tendency such people are apt to be fearful; prone suggests a propensity or predisposition to something that seems almost inevitable she's prone to have accidents

Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.