phrasal verb · neutral
look likely to
/lʊk ˈlaɪkli tə/look LIK·ly to
speakingtask2
appear probable to happen (based on current evidence)
Examples
“Judging by the figures, the economy looks likely to recover next year.”
“With the new policy in place, strikes look likely to be avoided.”
“Given the current trend, homelessness looks likely to increase.”
Band 8 sentence
“Judging from the latest statistics, public transport usage looks likely to rise again next year.”
Collocations
- look likely to + verb
- look increasingly likely to
Word family
looks likely to vlooking likely to v-inglooked likely to v-past
Common mistakes
look like to→look likely to
looks likely→looks likely to + V
Say it for a higher band
5will→6be likely to→7+look likely to
Synonyms
be likely to
seem likely to
Easily confused
be likely to
“Given the evidence, the policy is likely to fail.”
Related words
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