Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Unlikely |
UnlikelyAdjective1. Not likely to be true or to occur or to have occurred; "legislation on the question is highly unlikely"; "an improbable event". 2. Has little chance of being the case or coming about; "an unlikely story; "an unlikely candidate for reelection"; "a butcher is unlikely to preach vegetarianism". 3. Having a probability to low to inspire belief. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "unlikely" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1350. (references) |
Synonyms: UnlikelySynonyms: improbable (adj), unbelievable (adj), unconvincing (adj). (additional references) |
| Antonyms: likely (adj), probable (adj). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Impossibility | Adjective: impossible; not possible; absurd, contrary to reason; unlikely; unreasonable; incredible; beyond the bounds of reason, beyond the bounds of possibility, beyond the realm of possibility; from which reason recoils; visionary; inconceivable; (improbable); prodigious; (wonderful); unimaginable, inimaginable; unthinkable. |
Improbability | Adjective: improbable, unlikely, contrary to all reasonable expectation; wild, far out, out of sight, outtasight, heavy. |
Possibility | Phrase: misericordia Domini inter pontem et fontent; " the glories of the Possible are ours "; anything is possible; in theory possible, but in practise unlikely. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Unlikely |
| English words defined with "unlikely": A wild goose chase ♦ bad debt ♦ doubt ♦ farfetched, fond ♦ harmless ♦ implausible, impossible, in a pig's eye, inconceivable, innocuous ♦ last, long shot ♦ not very likely ♦ out of the question, outside ♦ remote ♦ unimaginable, unpromising ♦ Wild goose chase. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "unlikely": amateur packet radio ♦ Comparison value ♦ dislocated worker ♦ Fibre Channel-Arbitrated Loop ♦ Jaz Drive ♦ Minimal risk level ♦ Non-Maskable Interrupt ♦ Orphan Drug Production ♦ Poisson distributions, preformed rope, printer port, Priori ♦ rave on!, Reference dose ♦ SCSI adaptor ♦ unprotected road user ♦ vulnerable road user. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Well that's unlikely. (Say Anything; writing credit: Cameron Crowe.) Let me move you over here, in the unlikely event that she unhinges her jaw and swallows you whole. (Will & Grace; writing credit: Evan Weinstein) Unlikely, I'm an obsolete design. (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines; writing credit: James Cameron; Gale Anne Hurd) Faced with a universe in chaos, Dylan Hunt recruits an unlikely crew and sets out to reunite the galaxies. (Andromeda; writing credit: John Cranna) Starting in the most unlikely of places: Trump Casino, Atlantic City! (Penn & Teller Get Killed; writing credit: Penn Jillette; Teller) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Unlikely Cowboy (1999) Unlikely Angel (1996) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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High Tech |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | A tempestuous relationship between an unlikely pair of stars may have created an oddly shaped ... Credit: NASA. |  | Figure 11. Lightning sounder, designed in 1866 by Lieutenant Charles C. P. Fitz gerald, RN. This model was used on the LIGHTNING during the Faroe Islands expedition of 1868. It was used for systematic sounding operations in depths up to 1189 meters and according to Charles Wyville Thomson, a mission participant, it never failed despite its primitive and unlikely appearance. Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now. |
 | Underpaid teachers are unlikely to teach conservatism. Credit: Library of Congress. | ||
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Author | Date | Quotation |
Brown v. Board of Education | 1954 | To separate them from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone. (reference) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Contact | Carl Sagan | In the unlikely case we can't make up our minds, they're temporarily only guerrillas. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Consistent followup is unlikely. (references) | |
If it heals naturally, sarcoidosis is unlikely to recur. (references) | ||
It therefore seems unlikely that CFS is a transmissible disease. (references) | ||
Business | Even moderate growth of 2.5 percent a year or more, is unlikely to significantly reduce unemployment. (references) | |
However, demand opportunities from deregulation of the Australian-energy market is unlikely to be immediate. (references) | ||
It should be noted however, that Ukraine's budget belt-tightening measures make government financing unlikely. (references) | ||
Children | Rwanda | Credible reports persisted that Rwandan and RCD rebel troops abducted young women from the villages they raided, although it was unlikely that such abductions were sanctioned by the Rwandan Government. (references) |
Malawi | The belief that children are unlikely to be HIV positive and the widespread belief that sexual intercourse with virgins can cleanse an individual of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, contributes to the sexual abuse of minors. (references) | |
Civil Liberties | Zambia | In response to pressure from MMD officials, the suspects were released the same month, and the case is unlikely to be resumed. (references) |
Economic History | Bahamas | These policies are unlikely to change. (references) |
Moldova | Such civil disturbances are unlikely in the near future. (references) | |
Venezuela | Correspondence in English is unlikely to get a response. (references) | |
Human Rights | Pakistan | Further action in this case is unlikely. (references) |
Ecuador | The investigation remains active but progress appears unlikely. (references) | |
Zambia | The case still was pending at year's end, and it is unlikely to be resolved. (references) | |
Minorities | Pakistan | There were no arrests in connection with the case, and it was unlikely that any further action would be taken in connection with the case. (references) |
Political Economy | SWITZERLAND | It is highly unlikely that there are any exports. (references) |
HUNGARY | Wholesale reforms are unlikely until after the 2002 election. (references) | |
Political Rights | Ukraine | However, because of President Kuchma's 18-point margin of victory, observers concluded that it was unlikely that these problems significantly altered the final outcome of the election. (references) |
Travel | Argentina | Courtesy is very important, and efforts to rush a business deal are unlikely to met with success. (references) |
Oman | Western visitors are unlikely to patronize the local, non-air conditioned bus or collective taxi system in Muscat. (references) | |
Women | Sierra Leone | The police are unlikely to intervene in domestic disputes except in cases involving severe injury or death. (references) |
Brazil | Men who commit crimes against women, including sexual assault and murder, are unlikely to be brought to trial. (references) | |
Guyana | However, no case ever has been tried under the Equal Rights Act, and critics of the Antidiscrimination Act claim that it is unlikely to be effective since the act places enforcement responsibilities on the overburdened Chief Labor Officer. (references) | |
Worker Rights | Romania | At least one labor confederation has stated that it is unlikely to renew membership in the Pact. (references) |
Malawi | However, given the low level of education of most workers and the high level of unemployment, they are unlikely to exercise this right. (references) | |
Brunei | The law permits a worker to leave a hazardous job site without jeopardizing his employment, but in practice this is unlikely to happen. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
William H. Taft | 1909-1913 | A statute can and ought to be framed to embody the best modern practice, and can bring the subject so closely to the attention of the court as to make abuses of the process unlikely in the future. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Unlikely" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Unlikely" is used about 5,643 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 100% | 5,643 | 1,745 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "unlikely": but in practise unlikely ♦ it's not unlikely that ♦ quite unlikely. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
unlikely | 11 |
unlikely hero | 6 |
cowboy unlikely | 5 |
hero paintball unlikely | 3 |
one unlikely | 3 |
lester the unlikely | 2 |
story unlikely | 2 |
heros unlikely | 2 |
heros paintball unlikely | 2 |
difficult expensive importation it risky unlikely | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "unlikely"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | zor se (hardly), vështirë se (hardly), si zor është, i pashpresë (desperate, disconsolate, frustrate, frustrated, goner, hopeless), i pangjashëm (different, disparate, dissimilar, diverse, matchless, unlike). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | بغيض (abominable, accursed, antipathetic, beastly, blasted, cursed, damned, detestable, distasteful, dreadful, forbidding, frightful, hateful, horrid, impossible, nasty, noxious, objectionable, obnoxious, odious, out of favor, out of favour, repellent, repugnant, repulsive, sticky, ungrateful, unhappy, unpalatable, unpleasant, unsavory, unsavoury, unwelcome, villainous), بعيد الإحتمال (far fetched, improbable), بعيد (afield, away, distant, far, out of the way, remote, soon after). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | невероятно (unbelievable), невероятен (anecdotal, fabulous, far fetched, improbable, incredible, marvellous, marvelous, tall, unbelievable, unthinkable), необещаващо, необещаващ, неправдоподобен (implausible, improbable, incredible, unconvincing), непривлекателен (unattractive, uncomely, uninviting, unlovely, unprepossessing), малко вероятно, малко вероятен (dim, off, remote). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 不會 (be unable to, have not learned to, improbable, will not), 不太可能. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | nevhodný (clumsy, ill timed, impolitic, improper, inadequate, inadvisable, inapposite, inappropriate, inapt, incongruous, inconvenient, ineligible, inexpedient, inopportune, misbecoming, off-key, unappropriated, unapt, unbecoming, uncalled for, undesirable, undue, unfit, unlucky, unseasonable, unseemly, unsuitable, untimely), nepravdìpodobný (implausible, improbable), nepravdìpodobnì. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | قابل اعتراض , غیرمحتمل (Improbable, Unapt), غیرجذاب (Unappealing), بعید (Far, Remote, Unseemly). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | epätodennäköinen (improbable). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | improbable. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | unwahrscheinlich (crazily, implausible, improbable, improbably, incredible), ungleich (different, dissimilar, diverse, irregular, not equal, unalike, unequal, uneven, unhomogeneous, unlike). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | απίθανοσ (fishy, improbable). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | מן " מ ע, קש" ל" יח. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | valószínûtlen (implausible, improbable, incredible, shadowy, unbelievable), nem úgy, mint, hihetetlen (beyond belief, impossible, inconceivable, incredible, marvellous, marvelous, unbelievable, wondrous). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | inverosimile (improbable, tall), improbabilmente, improbabile (improbable). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 있을 법하지 않". (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | ikelyunlay inverossímil, inauspicioso, improvável (fishy, off). (various references) improbabil (improbable). (various references) вряд ли (no fear, not likely, scarcely), неправдоподобный (anecdotic, implausible, improbable, incredible, unthinkable), навряд ли (scarcely likely), маловероятный (low-probable), едва ли (hardly, no fear). (various references) neo-choltach (dissimilar, improbable). (various references) slab (dickey, dicky, feckless, feeble, flabby, frail, infirm, languid, languorous, low, meager, meagre, nerveless, poor, powerless, punk, remote, short, sickly, slim, tenuous, thin, trick, undernourished, washy, weak), riskantno, neverovatno (incredibly, unbelievable, unbelievably), neverovatan (implausible, improbable, incredible, unbelievable, unbelieving), nesigurno, neizvestan (doubtful, uncertain), neizvesno, koji ne obećava uspeh. (various references) improbable (improbable). (various references) osannolik (implausible, improbable, unthinkable). (various references) pek mümkün olmayan, olmaz (christ no, impossible, no, no deal, no dice, no way, nope, nothing, nothing doing, that cat won't jump, thumbs down, unseemly), olası olmayan (improbable, unapt), muhtemel olmayan, ihtimali olmayan, ihtimali olmadan. (various references) що не пода" надії, неправдоподібний (incredible, unthinkable), непривабливий (graceless, repulsive, unattractive, uninviting, unspeakable), навряд чи (scarce, scarcely). (various references) không chắc có thực không nghĩ đến không có hứa hẹn, không chắc (aleatory, improbable, uncertain, unstable, unsteady). (various references) annhebygol (improbable). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Misspellings | |
"Unlikely" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Ulikooli, unlikly, unlively. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "unlikely" (pronounced unlī"klē) |
| 5 | -l ī" k l ē | likely. |
| 3 | -k l ē | academically, acoustically, aerobically, aerodynamically, aesthetically, alchemically, algebraically, alphabetically, analytically, anatomically, angelically, apologetically, artistically, astronomically, athletically, authentically, automatically, basically, biologically, biweekly, blankly, briskly, brusquely, categorically, characteristically, chemically, chronologically, classically, cosmetically, darkly, democratically, demographically, diplomatically, dogmatically, domestically, dramatically, drastically, ecologically, economically, ecstatically, emphatically, energetically, enthusiastically, erratically, ethnically, euphemistically, fantastically, forensically, frankly, generically, genetically, geometrically, geopolitically, graphically, grotesquely, heroically, hypothetically, hysterically, ideologically, idiotically, ironically, linguistically, logically, logistically, lyrically, mechanically, medically, meekly, metaphorically, microscopically, musically, newsweekly, numerically, obliquely, optically, organically, paradoxically, pathologically, phonetically, physiologically, poetically, practically, prickly, prolifically, psychologically, publically, publicly, quickly, radically, realistically, rhetorically, rhythmically, sarcastically, sickly, sleekly, slickly, sparkly, specifically, sporadically, starkly, stoically, strategically, stylistically, symmetrically, synthetically, systematically, systemically, terrifically, thematically, theologically, thickly, tragically, typically, uncharacteristically, undiplomatically, uniquely, unrealistically, vertically, volcanically, weakly, weekly. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-i-k-l-l-n-u-y" | |
-2 letters: likely, unlike. | |
-3 letters: inkle, kelly, knell, liken, liney, linky, nelly. | |
-4 letters: illy, inky, inly, kill, kiln, kine, kune, leku, lien, lieu, like, lily, line, link, liny, lune, lunk, luny, neuk, nill, nuke, null, yelk, yell, yeuk, yill, yule. | |
-5 letters: elk, ell, ilk, ill, ink, ken, key, kin, kue, lei, lek, leu, ley, lie, lin. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-i-k-l-l-n-u-y" | |
+2 letters: unladylike. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)55 6E 6C 69 6B 65 6C 79 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references)..- -. .-.. .. -.- . .-.. -.--. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01010101 01101110 01101100 01101001 01101011 01100101 01101100 01111001 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)U n l i k e l y |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0055 006E 006C 0069 006B 0065 006C 0079 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)5580787577717891 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Quotations: Historic 8. Quotations: Fiction | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Quotations: Speeches 11. Usage Frequency 12. Expressions | 13. Expressions: Internet 14. Translations: Modern 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Orthography 19. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
