be like

present singular third person is like · participle present being like · past was like · participle past been like

1. To be similar to (something).

   They are like their parents in this respect.

   1 more example

   She was like a Beardsley Salome, he had said. And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry. His wooing had been brief but incisive.

   1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC

2. To be typical or characteristic of (someone or something).

   In these great sayings Jesus shows what people are like when God is King in their hearts, and in their lives.

   1903 October 10, E. P. B., “The Children’s Column. The Sermon on the Mount. II.—The Beatitudes. Matthew v. 3–10.”, in The Inquirer: A Weekly Journal of Liberal Religious Thought and Life, volume LXII, number 3198 (302 of new series), London, page 671, column 2

3. InternetMulticultural London EnglishUSidiomaticinformalTo say.

   If he’s like “I don’t want to”, then be like “Pretty please! – It means a lot to me”.

   2 more examples

   This weekend he called me up and he’s all “Where were you today?” and I’m like “I’m at my Grandmother’s house” […]

   1995, Amy Heckerling, Clueless, spoken by Dionne (Stacey Dash)

   A lotta times I grabbed bags of frozen chicken nuggets to take home. “You know what they say,” Ricky would be like. “Dude’s gotta have nugs.”

   2012, Mike Lacher, On the Bro’d: A Parody of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, page 71

   Synonyms: be all, be all like

4. To be as though.

   Cassy, don’t be like you don’t understand.

   2011, Judith G. Yates Shearer, “This County Named Christian”, in All Bones Be White, Lanham, Md.: Hamilton Books, →ISBN, page 52

   3 more examples

   When they were deciding my age in that place it was like they are going to buy you.

   2009, Heaven Crawley, quoting Hassan, “Between a rock and a hard place: negotiating age and identity in the UK asylum system”, in Nigel Thomas, editor, Children, Politics and Communication: Participation at the Margins, Bristol: The Policy Press, →ISBN, page 98

   Imi, it was like she was going to a wedding, she even had makeup on, and a black hat.

   2016, Petina Gappah, “The News of Her Death”, in Rotten Row, London: Faber & Faber, →ISBN, section “Capital”, page 44

   “People bet on you. Whether you win or lose. How many rounds. Anything. You’re good for the economy. Don’t be like you don’t know.” / […] Yeah, he knew. Maybe he didn’t care.

   2017, D. E. Lee, “Jimmy Nails”, in The Sky After Rain, Omaha, Neb.: Brighthorse Books, →ISBN, page 226