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unlikely Definition

un·likely (-līk′lē)

adjective

  1. not likely to happen or be true; improbable
  2. not likely to succeed; not promising

Etymology: ME unlikly, prob. based on ON ūlīkligr

adverb

improbably he may, not unlikely, join us

unlikely Related Forms
un·like′·li·hood′ noun or un·like′·li·ness
unlikely Synonyms

unlikely

modif.

  1. Not likely to happen

    improbable, unheard-of, incredible, implausible, not to be thought of, unbelievable, absurd, palpably false, unconvincing, not likely, scarcely possible, apparently false, contrary to expectation, inconceivable, doubtful, dubious, questionable, untoward, extraordinary, marvelous, out of the ordinary, strange.

  2. Not likely to succeed

    unpromising, unpropitious, questionable, dubious.

    Antonyms likely*, probable, credible.

unlikely Usage Examples

Preposition: that

  • anyone: Clearly it is unlikely that anyone could show title to the land which has been highway for longer than records exist.

Modifying Another Word

  • highly: Possible new areas Immediate tax rate changes are highly unlikely.
  • extremely: According to IDG News Service, ISO is extremely unlikely to become part of any ISO WLAN security standard.

Infinitive complement

  • succeed: Simply calling for subsidy removal is unlikely to succeed.
  • happen: Such a scenario is unlikely to happen, however.
  • occur: I fear that this is highly unlikely to occur.
  • recur: The company cited a " coincidental " series of events it said are unlikely to recur.
  • survive: They are unlikely to survive in dense stands of other plants.
  • exceed: The maximum pitch angle during normal operation is unlikely to exceed 30 degrees.

Modifies a noun

  • hero: In some ways, Laidlaw seems an unlikely hero.
  • bedfellow: They may be unlikely bedfellows but they are the right combo for this job.
  • event: In the very unlikely event of the bridge loosing steering control at any point, the men could steer the vessel manually from here.
  • alliance: Talabani said an independent Iraqi uprising against Saddam depended on an unlikely alliance among the country's different ethnic, political and religious groups.
  • friendship: The portrayal of the unlikely friendship and its redemptive power is finely drawn and superbly performed by Ian Hart and Linus Roache.
  • savior: Thankfully there were to be a couple of unlikely saviors, the first of whom was Emma Shiels.

Used with adjective complement

  • seem: Sadly, these seem unlikely to show up on Oscar's radar.
  • appear: But recently, results have been very disappointing and a medal appeared unlikely on the eve of the Games.
  • look: However while they look unlikely to win the next General Election the Tories are no longer a joke.
  • consider: Indeed, Bath was not provided with antiaircraft defenses because an attack was considered unlikely.
  • think: But if there's civil war there - as is possible but I think unlikely - why then no one can do anything.