likened

verb

past tense of liken
1
as in compared
to describe as similar he generally likened a root canal to some horrible form of torture

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in identified
to regard or represent as equal or comparable I think that we can liken the two pianists, at least in terms of natural talent

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of likened As a result, critics have likened Achilles to a carpetbagger, and called him a political opportunist who failed to fulfill his commitment to voters. — Sarah Cutler, Idaho Statesman, 23 Oct. 2026 The movement was formed in May 2026 to protest the government’s cancellation of medical school entrance exams and after India’s Chief Justice Surya Kant likened unemployed youth to cockroaches. — Amrita Basu, The Conversation, 22 Oct. 2026 The dress was sourced from Los Angeles vintage store Lily et Cie in Los Angeles, who likened the look to Elizabeth Taylor on its Instagram. — Amina Ayoud, Footwear News, 19 Oct. 2026 But on Monday, Broadcom CEO Hock Tan likened many of the investors drawn to the AI boom to gamblers and questioned the economics of AI labs as Wall Street debates whether the AI bubble will burst. — Andrew Nusca, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026 Braniecki likened the effort to make SPACE open source to what happened with web browsers as the internet developed — companies came together to build guardrails that allowed secure browsing and online commerce. — Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 15 Oct. 2026 Other Reddit users likened Muse to OpenAI’s infamous GPT-4o, an AI model that users overwhelmingly formed emotional bonds with last year. — Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 14 Oct. 2026 Justin Jones, a lawmaker in the last of those, burned an image of a Confederate flag at the state capitol in protest, and likened local Republicans to Bull Connor and George Wallace. — Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 10 Oct. 2026 Justice Elena Kagan, appearing sympathetic to Boulder's argument, likened the lawsuit to major class-action cases against tobacco companies and opioid drug manufacturers in states hit hard by fallout from widespread use of those products. — ABC News, 5 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for likened
  1. compared
  2. equated
Verb
  • The average Chinese battery pack price dropped by about 30%, compared with a 15% decline in the United States.
    — Rick Lazio, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Nationally, more than 13 million mail-in and early in-person votes have been cast, compared with 9 million at the same point in 2022.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of compared
Verb
  • Blackwell equated Robinson’s impact to that of Sidney Poitier, Thurgood Marshall and Jackie Robinson.
    — Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 9 Oct. 2026
  • The character is a type-A perfect student who never has a single hair out of place — a way of being that Gerber has stepped into after years in the fashion industry where perfection is often equated with sublime beauty.
    — Michel Ghanem, CNN Money, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of equated

Browse Nearby Words

liken
likened
likeness
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Likened.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/likened. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of shindig

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Pwn, Skibidi, Girlboss and Other Words Added to the 2026 Scrabble Dictionary

The Words of the Week - Oct. 30

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All