Adjective likely has 4 senses
- likely - 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"
Antonyms: unlikely, farfetched, implausible, last, outside, remote
- probable, likely, plausible - likely but not certain to be or become true or real; "a likely result"; "he foresaw a probable loss"
- expected, likely, potential - expected to become or be; in prospect; "potential clients"; "expected income"
Antonym: retrospective (indirect, via prospective)
- likely, plausible - within the realm of credibility; "not a very likely excuse"; "a plausible story"
Antonyms: incredible, unbelievable (indirect, via credible)
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Adverbial likely has 1 sense
- probably, likely, in all likelihood, in all probability, belike - with considerable certainty; without much doubt; "He is probably out of the country"; "in all likelihood we are headed for war"
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