How to Use likelihood in a Sentence

likelihood

noun
  • There is a strong likelihood that he will be reelected.
  • The likelihood is that 2030 will take place across three.
    Rory Smith, New York Times, 6 Oct. 2023
  • This is, in all likelihood, the last of these movies Gunn will make, at least for a while.
    A.a. Dowd, Chron, 28 Apr. 2023
  • What is the likelihood the mifepristone case goes to the Supreme Court?
    John Fritze, USA TODAY, 13 Apr. 2023
  • There's a greater likelihood of a cold streak falling on the Philly end.
    Jeremy Cluff, The Arizona Republic, 26 Oct. 2022
  • In all likelihood, the game will decide the No. 1 seed from the 6A-West, along with a first-round bye in the playoffs.
    Sam Lane, Arkansas Online, 26 Oct. 2022
  • And that ups the likelihood of irritation.2 What can lactic acid do for your skin?
    Melanie Rud, SELF, 26 Sep. 2023
  • The costs still aren’t enough to kill his empire, in all likelihood.
    Michael Tomasky, The New Republic, 28 Apr. 2023
  • First is the likelihood that drivers will file a claim, and how much those claims will cost to pay out.
    Alex Fitzpatrick, Axios, 28 Jan. 2025
  • The likelihood of a loss to the lowly Beavers is south of 50 percent but well north of zero.
    Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 24 Jan. 2024
  • That's up from a mere 33% likelihood for a May rate increase that was priced in a month ago.
    Paul R. La Monica, CNN, 14 Feb. 2023
  • Wednesday should be rather warm as well, despite the likelihood of a good deal of clouds.
    Ian Livingston, Washington Post, 9 Apr. 2024
  • In all likelihood Jones does not have the money to pay Wednesday’s award.
    Elizabeth Williamson, BostonGlobe.com, 13 Oct. 2022
  • Bases were enlarged to increase the likelihood they’d be stolen.
    Steven P. Dinkin, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Nov. 2023
  • This reduces the likelihood of scratching your pots and pans.
    Claire Hoppe, Better Homes & Gardens, 26 Sep. 2024
  • This is, in all likelihood, that biggest rock show to play Concord in many years.
    Jim Harrington, The Mercury News, 18 Mar. 2024
  • Still, the likelihood of being that close to a breaching whale is pretty low.
    Abigail Adams, Peoplemag, 17 Oct. 2022
  • But there’s one concern that stands out: the likelihood that the GOP will drag the country to the brink of a debt default, and perhaps even push us over the edge.
    Jason Linkins, The New Republic, 14 Jan. 2023
  • In all likelihood, the final decision will come from the Supreme Court.
    Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, 15 Mar. 2023
  • The likelihood of tagging a bull shark was highest near the city of Daphne and along the western shoreline of the bay, according to the researchers.
    Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 14 Mar. 2024
  • The Tigers will, in all likelihood, keep Rodriguez on the team for the remainder of the season and could lose him for nothing in free agency.
    Andrew Birkle, Detroit Free Press, 2 Aug. 2023
  • Scientists have warned there’s a growing likelihood that 2023 could be the Earth’s hottest year on record.
    Mitchell McCluskey, CNN, 13 July 2023
  • Oregon will, in all likelihood, be the one-seed in the playoff, and despite the loss, Penn State is certainly in the running to host a game in the first round.
    Ryan Morik, Fox News, 8 Dec. 2024
  • This tees up a contentious Season 4 that will, in all likelihood, put Smart back into the awards race next year as well.
    Harrison Richlin, IndieWire, 15 Sep. 2024
  • Whatever the appeals court decides, the likelihood that this gets appealed to the US Supreme Court is very high.
    Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 3 Apr. 2024
  • In addition, there were a record number of climbers in 2023, Shea said, which increased the likelihood of more deaths.
    Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 26 Sep. 2023
  • What’s the likelihood that there will be a Succession spinoff or prequel?
    Lesley Goldberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Jan. 2024
  • The top tweets from that pile are ranked on the likelihood of a user's engagement with that tweet's author; the more likely, the more their tweets show up in For You.
    Kevin Purdy, Ars Technica, 31 Mar. 2023
  • Lawmakers on both sides had to adjust to the unrelenting news cycle and the likelihood that their lives could be turned upside down by one Trump tweet.
    Riley Beggin, USA TODAY, 25 Jan. 2025
  • Venus will make its ravishing debut in Aries the following day, spicing things up in your social life while increasing the likelihood of encountering passion and romance.
    Valerie Mesa, People.com, 1 Feb. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'likelihood.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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