likelihood
noun/ˈlaɪklihʊd/
Etymology From Middle English liklihode, equivalent to likely + -hood.
1
The probability of a specified outcome; the chance of something happening; probability; the state or degree of being probable.
- In all likelihood the meeting will be cancelled.
- The likelihood is that the inflation rate will continue to rise.
1 more example
- While starting early can increase your likelihood of attaining millionaire status, the investments you choose play an equally important role.2017 May 16, Maurie Backman, “Here's how to become a millionaire on $56,000 a year”, in CNN Money, archived from the original on 21 Apr 2025:
2
Mathematics, Probability theory, Sciences, Statistics The probability that some fixed outcome was generated by a random distribution with a specific parameter.
3
Likeness, resemblance.
- There is no likelihood between pure light and black darkness, […]or between righteousness and reprobation.1614, Walter Ralegh [i.e., Walter Raleigh], chapter 3, in The Historie of the World […], London: […] William Stansby for Walter Burre, […], →OCLC, 1st book:
4
Archaic Appearance, show, sign, expression.
- Synonyms
- likeliness, liability, odds
- Antonyms
- unlikelihood
- Derived terms
- dislikelihood, in all likelihood, loglikelihood, pseudolikelihood, quasilikelihood, Whittle likelihood