-like
/-laɪk/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: 6.41 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
suffix
Resembling, having some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns).
suffix
Used to form adverbs from adjectives or nouns; alternative of -ly.
Example Sentences
- "Even at 13 years old, she still had a childlike voice."
- "I saw the snake-like coils of the garden hose peeking out from under the deck."
- "1996, Kevin Siembieda, Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game page 128 under "Dark" Damage: Those with normal, human-like vision are blind"
- "What other television show would feature a gorgeously designed sequence where a horrifically mutated Pierre and Marie Curie, their bodies swollen to Godzilla-like proportions from prolonged exposure to the radiation that would eventually kill them, destroy an Asian city with their bare hands like vengeance-crazed monster-Gods? […] Because the audience couldn’t possibly be expected to know who the Curies were, let alone that they were married and died of radiation poisoning, and devoting precious time to a scene of the scientists as Mothra-like destroyers does nothing but waste time and alienate an audience that just wants to hear characters spout their catchphrases."
- "The Spanish speak machine-gun-like."
- "Hah! Big, bad Punio. Listen to yourself! Trying to sound all important-like!"
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *leyg-der. Proto-Germanic *līkąder. Proto-Germanic *-līkaz Proto-West Germanic *-līk Old English -līċ Middle English -like English -like From Middle English -like, -lik, from Middle English like, lik (“same, similar, alike”), from Old English ġelīc and Old Norse líkr (“same, similar, alike”). Reinforced by like (preposition). Doublet of -ly. Compare also Dutch -lijk (“-ly, -like”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *leyg-, -like, like, ġelīc, líkr
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /-laɪk/
Inflected Forms
more -like (comparative)
most -like (superlative)