unlikely

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʌnˈlaɪ.kli/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English unlikli, from English un- + likely,^[2][3][4] with similar formations in Old Norse úlíkligr and Middle Danish uligelig.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not likely to happen, improbable: 1375 in the OED,^[5] the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Not likely to be true or correct is from 1592 in the OED,^[5] the 1590s in Etymonline.^[2] In Middle English unlikely also meant unsuitable or unfit (about 1386) and unseemly or objectionable (1456), senses now obsolete,^[5] and in northern Lincolnshire dialect it still meant bad or displeasing.^[6] Not promising, likely to fail, as in an unlikely candidate, continues the old sense of unsuitability.^[7][5] The adverb, improbably, is from the mid-15th century,^[2] and the noun, an unlikely person, from 1867.^[5]

Timeline

• 1375 – improbable.^[5]
• c. 1386 – unsuitable (obsolete).^[5]
• mid-15th century – the adverb.^[2]
• 1592 – not likely to be true.^[5]
• 1867 – an unlikely person.^[5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Not likely to happen or be true; improbable.
2. Not promising; likely to fail: an unlikely candidate.

Word family

• unlikeliness

Related words

• likely
• like
• unlike

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin