-like

US/-laɪk/

suffix

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

“The Spanish speak machine-gun-like.”

Meanings

suffix-like (adjective-forming suffix, comparative more -like, superlative most -like)

comparative more -like · superlative most -like · comparative more -like · superlative most -like

  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.

    3 more examples

    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

    What other television show would feature a gorgeously designed sequence where a horrifically mutated Pierre and Marie Curie, their bodies swollen to Godzilla-like proportions from prolonged exposure to the radiation that would eventually kill them, destroy an Asian city with their bare hands like vengeance-crazed monster-Gods? […] Because the audience couldn’t possibly be expected to know who the Curies were, let alone that they were married and died of radiation poisoning, and devoting precious time to a scene of the scientists as Mothra-like destroyers does nothing but waste time and alienate an audience that just wants to hear characters spout their catchphrases.

    2012 May 20, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Marge Gets A Job” (season 4, episode 7; originally aired 11/05/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club, archived from the original on 16 Aug 2012
  2. dialectalUsed to form adverbs from adjectives or nouns; alternative of -ly.

    The Spanish speak machine-gun-like.

    1 more example

    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 Woods
  3. gamesUsed to form genres out of existing games through the process of analogy.

    The Soulslike genre of games are very difficult and thought to play.

Synonyms & antonyms

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*leyg-
  2. Proto-Germanic*līką
  3. 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”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic كَـ
  • كَـ (ka-)having some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
Chinese Mandarin 般, 如
  • 般 (bān)having some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • 如 (rú)having some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
Dutch -achtig
  • -achtighaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
Esperanto -eca
  • -ecahaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
Finnish -moinen, -llinen
  • -moinenhaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • -llinenhaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • -n kaltainenhaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
French -in, -ine
  • -inhaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • -inehaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
German -artig, -ähnlich
  • -artighaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • -ähnlichhaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • -hafthaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
Hungarian -szerű, -os
  • -szerűhaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • -oshaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • -ashaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • -eshaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • -öshaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • -shaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
Icelandic -legur
  • -legurhaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
Japanese 様, の様に
  • 様 (yō)having some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • の様に (no yō ni)having some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • っぽい (ppoi)having some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • みたい (mitai)having some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
Latin -oides
  • -oideshaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
Persian ـدیس, ـوش
  • ـدیس (-dis)having some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • ـوش (-vaš)having some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
Polish -aty
  • -atyhaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
Russian -подо́бный
  • -подо́бный (-podóbnyj)having some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
Spanish algo, cuasi-
  • algohaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • cuasi-having some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • propio dehaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
Swedish -lik, -aktig
  • -likhaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • -aktighaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • -artadhaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
Tagalog mala-
  • mala-having some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
Turkish -ca, -ça
  • -cahaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • -çahaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • -cehaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • -çehaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • -sihaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • -sıhaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • -suhaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • -sühaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • -imsihaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • -ımsıhaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • -umsuhaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
  • -ümsühaving some of the characteristics of (used to form adjectives from nouns)
Cite this entry
APA

-like. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-like

MLA

“-like.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-like. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “-like,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-like.

Source: -like on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.