likened

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

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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

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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 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 The practice seems to have been abandoned by 1860, but Plunkett likened it to the virtual tours or walkthroughs employed by online real estate listing services like Redfin, Zillow, or Rightmove in the UK. — ArsTechnica, 2 Oct. 2026 The creative director likened his process this season to the idea of a mosaic, a creative method that creates large works from a series of smaller parts. — Katie Abel, Footwear News, 28 Sep. 2026 Chad Berginnis, the director of the ASFM, likened the minimum federal requirements to a standard recipe and said states can do more. — Ren Larson, ProPublica, 28 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for likened
Verb
  • The oldest group now has roughly 15x the wealth of the youngest, compared with about 9x three years earlier.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2026
  • The company claims its system can reduce filament waste by up to 85% and printing time by up to 80% compared with conventional single-nozzle multi-color methods.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 17 Oct. 2026
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

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Cite this Entry

“Likened.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/likened. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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