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View synonyms for liken

liken

[ lahy-kuhn ]

verb (used with object)

  1. to represent as similar or like; compare:

    to liken someone to a weasel.



liken

/ ˈlaɪkən /

verb

  1. tr to see or represent as the same or similar; compare


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Other Words From

  • un·likened adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of liken1

First recorded in 1275–1325, liken is from the Middle English word liknen. See like 1, -en 1

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Word History and Origins

Origin of liken1

C14: from like 1(adj)

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Example Sentences

Because epidemiological models make statements about the future, it’s tempting to liken them to weather forecasts — but it’s also deeply wrong.

A third media executive likened the platforms’ aggregated inventory to sausage.

From Digiday

Washington Post reporter Ann Gerhart likened it to “the Bataan Death March set to music.”

Earlier in this column, I likened getting the vaccine to a winning lottery ticket.

It is no coincidence that the psychologist Jean Piaget, whose trailblazing research helped us understand how children develop, likened dreaming to play.

In fact, the Michigan congressman went so far as to liken them to Judas Iscariot.

Some researchers liken it to an addiction, others to sexual orientation; still others put their faith in brain scans.

“I liken it to a building contractor that builds homes,” he says.

They liken the experience to eating pot brownies, which, unlike smoking, results in more lasting, full-bodied effects.

It would be in vain to seek for any object more intrinsically inconsiderable with which to liken a condition of indifference.

To liken a thing to something already known is a vivid way of explaining.

It is over forty feet high, and is fronted in such a peculiar fashion, I could only liken it to some heathen temple.

Her words I can liken to nothing but to so many little silver bells, ringing out into the clear air in joy and sweetness.

Four days later he sat on the side of his cot and said to the patients mildly: 'I'd 'a' liken to 'a' spoken to 'im so I should.'

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like-mindedlikeness