Meanings
present singular third person unlikens · participle present unlikening · participle past unlikened · past unlikened
- transitiveTo make unlike or describe as being unlike.
"To unliken them would make nonsense of any poem," I said.
1948, Blackwood's Magazine, volume 264, page 1782 more examples
At some time, in a similar mood, Flaubert made an undated entry on the last page of one of his travel notebooks, likening and unlikening his accesses of depression to the midsummer rising of the Nile: 'Oh Nile!'
1996, Gustave Flaubert, Flaubert in Egypt, page 151At which point, my mind abandons the count, rationalising that there are countless more unlikening bricks in this building.
2023, Leilani Taneus-Miller, Brown Girl
Origin
- Middle Englishunliknen
- Englishunliken
From Middle English unliknen, equivalent to un- + liken.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
unliken. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unliken
“unliken.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unliken. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unliken,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unliken.
Source: unliken on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.