unlikely

Pluralunlikelies

1. 1
   adjective

   Not probable; not to be reasonably expected to happen or be true.

   An unlikely series of coincidences brought the two strangers together.

   It is unlikely that prices will fall before the holidays.

   Similarimprobable, doubtful, implausible, unexpected

   Oppositelikely, probable, expected

   Note

   Besides judging what may happen, the adjective often describes something that has already turned up where no one expected it. In H. G. Wells's The Time Machine (1895) the traveler finds camphor, "a far more unlikely substance," and Modern Railways in 1964 reports "a most unlikely locomotive" on a mail train. For forecasts it takes a that-clause and intensifiers such as highly and pretty: it is pretty unlikely that you'll win.

2. 2
   adjective

   Offering little prospect of success; likely to fail or to prove disappointing.

   Investors avoided the unlikely venture, doubting it could ever turn a profit.

   Her chances of promotion seemed unlikely after the first round of cuts.

   Similarunpromising, doubtful, hopeless, slim

   Oppositepromising, likely, hopeful

   Note

   Here the word judges a plan or a tool rather than an event: unlikely means are methods that hold out little hope of working. The line between this sense and the "improbable" meaning can blur. An unlikely candidate may be one nobody expected to see, or one nobody expects to win, so the surrounding sentence has to show which judgment is meant.

3. 3
   adverb

   In an improbable manner; in a way not to be reasonably expected.

   The negotiations concluded unlikely, with both sides conceding more than anyone foresaw.

   Matters turned out unlikely, the weakest contender emerging victorious.

   Similarimprobably, unexpectedly

   Oppositepredictably

4. 4
   nouncountable

   A person or thing regarded as improbable or not expected to succeed.

   Commentators love an unlikely, the contender no model predicted would advance.

   The bracket was stacked with unlikelies that bookmakers had already written off.

   Similarunderdog, outsider

   Oppositefavorite

   Note

   A noun made by converting the adjective, usually met in the plural, unlikelies. It is handy for sorting things into bins. Robert K. Lindsay's 1980 work on artificial intelligence in organic chemistry ranks candidates as "rejects, unlikelies, and probables," and Laurie R. King's To Play the Fool offers phone numbers "plus a few unlikelies." Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul shows its playful side, with adjective and noun together: "the most unlikely of unlikelies."

Showing meanings only. Show all 4