-like

Resembling, having some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns).

Suffix

  1. Resembling, having some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns).
    • Even at 13 years old, she still had a childlike voice.
    • I saw the snake-like coils of the garden hose peeking out from under the deck.
    • 1996, Kevin Siembieda, Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game page 128 under "Dark" Damage: Those with normal, human-like vision are blind
  2. Used to form adverbs from adjectives or nouns; alternative of -ly.
    • The Spanish speak machine-gun-like.
    • Hah! Big, bad Punio. Listen to yourself! Trying to sound all important-like! - 2004, Intelligent Systems, translated by Nintendo of America, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Nintendo, GameCube, level/area: Boggly...

Origin

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *leyg-der. Proto-Germanic *līkąder. Proto-Germanic *-līkaz Proto-West Germanic *-līk Old English -līċ Middle English -like English -like From Middle English -like, -lik, from Middle English like, lik (“same, similar, alike”), from Old English ġelīc and Old Norse líkr (“same, similar, alike”). Reinforced by like (preposition). Doublet of -ly. Compare also Dutch -lijk (“-ly, -like”).

Forms

more -like most -like

Synonyms

quasi- para- -esque -ish -ly -oid -form -iform -some -y -ass