From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Likely \Like"ly\, adjective [Compar. {Likelier} (l[imac]k"l[i^]*[~e]r); superl. {Likeliest}.] [That is, like-like. See {Like}, adjective]
1. Worthy of belief; probable; credible; as, a likely story.
It seems likely that he was in hope of being busy and conspicuous. --Johnson.
2. Having probability; having or giving reason to expect; -- followed by the infinitive; as, it is likely to rain.
3. Similar; like; alike. [Obs.] --Spenser.
4. Such as suits; good-looking; pleasing; agreeable; handsome. --Shak. --Milton.
5. Having such qualities as make success probable; well adapted to the place; promising; as, a likely young man; a likely servant.
6. Improbable; unlikely; -- used ironically; as, a likely story. [informal] [PJC]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Likely \Like"ly\, adverb In all probability; probably.
While man was innocent he was likely ignorant of nothing that imported him to know. --Glanvill.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
adjective
1: has a good chance of being the case or of coming about; "these services are likely to be available to us all before long"; "she is likely to forget"; "a likely place for a restaurant"; "the broken limb is likely to fall"; "rain is likely"; "a likely topic for investigation"; "likely candidates for the job" [ant: {unlikely}]
2: likely but not certain to be or become true or real; "a likely result"; "he foresaw a probable loss" [syn: {probable}, {plausible}] [ant: {improbable}]
3: expected to become or be; in prospect; "potential clients"; "expected income" [syn: {expected}, {potential}]
4: within the realm of credibility; "not a very likely excuse"; "a plausible story" [syn: {plausible}]
adverb
1: with considerable certainty; without much doubt; "He is probably out of the country"; "in all likelihood we are headed for war" [syn: {probably}, {in all likelihood}, {in all probability}, {belike}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
160 Moby Thesaurus words for "likely": Junoesque, a propos, able, acceptable, ad rem, adapted, advantageous, advisable, agreeable, amply endowed, applicable, apposite, appropriate, apropos, apt, apt to, assumably, becoming, befitting, bent, bonny, braw, built, built for comfort, buxom, by all odds, callipygian, callipygous, cogitable, comely, conceivable, conceivably possible, congruous, contingent, convenient, couleur de rose, credible, curvaceous, curvy, decent, desirable, disposed, disposed to, dispositioned, dollars to doughnuts, doubtless, doubtlessly, dovetailing, earthly, encouraging, expected, expedient, fair, favorable, favored, favorite, feasible, felicitous, fit, fitted, fitten, fitting, foreseeable, fructuous, geared, given, goddess-like, good, good-looking, goodly, happy, hopeful, humanly possible, imaginable, in all likelihood, in all probability, in the cards, in the mood, inclined, inclined to, indubitably, just right, liable, liable to, like enough, lovely to behold, meet, meshing, minded, mortal, most likely, no doubt, odds-on, on the button, opportune, pat, personable, plausible, pleasing, pneumatic, politic, possible, potential, predictable, predictable within limits, predisposed, presentable, presumable, presumably, presumptive, presumptively, probable, probably, profitable, promising, prone, proper, qualified, reasonable, recommendable, relevant, right, rose-colored, roseate, rosy, seasonable, seemly, shapely, sightly, slender, sortable, stacked, statistically probable, statuesque, suitable, suited, suiting, tailored, ten to one, tenable, thinkable, timely, to be desired, to the point, to the purpose, undoubtedly, useful, verisimilar, very like, very likely, well-built, well-favored, well-formed, well-made, well-proportioned, well-shaped, well-stacked, well-timed, wise, worthwhile
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