likelihood
gb/lˈaɪklihˌʊd/ us/lˈaɪklihˌʊd/
B2
Inglês
~ 9500
Acepções
0 acepção
Substantivo
B2
quantity
1
probability that something will occur
How likely it is that something will happen.
Padrão de uso:
the likelihood of [something] / the likelihood that [clause]
Erro comum:
Learners often say *"the likelihood to do something"* instead of the more natural *"the likelihood of doing something"* or *"the likelihood that something will happen"*. They may also confuse "likelihood" with "possibility"; "likelihood" suggests thinking about how probable something is, not just whether it can happen at all.
Sinônimos
probability (More formal and slightly more common in statistics and technical contexts, but often interchangeable.)
|
chance (More informal and general; sounds less technical than "likelihood".)
Antônimos
improbability (Direct opposite, focusing on the fact that something is not likely to happen.)
|
impossibility (Stronger opposite, meaning there is no chance at all that something will happen.)
Colocações
high likelihood
|strong likelihood
|reduce the likelihood
|likelihood of success
|likelihood that
|in all likelihood
Temas
daily life
|business
|science
|core_vocabulary
Exemplos
- The likelihood of rain this weekend is quite low.
- There is a strong likelihood that the company will announce job cuts.
- Regular exercise can reduce the likelihood of heart disease.
- Analysts say the likelihood that the law will pass is increasing.
- We need to assess the likelihood of delays before setting a final deadline.
Exemplos para estudantes
- There is a high likelihood of rain tomorrow.
- Smoking increases the likelihood of getting sick.
- The likelihood that he will be late is very small.
- They talked about the likelihood of winning the game.
- We must think about the likelihood of problems.
Substantivo
technical
C1
entity
2
statistical likelihood function
In statistics, a number or function that shows how well some values in a model fit the data you see.
Padrão de uso:
the likelihood of [parameters] given [data]
Erro comum:
Learners often think this technical sense is exactly the same as everyday "probability". In statistics, likelihood is a function of model parameters given fixed data, while probability is usually a function of data given fixed parameters.
Sinônimos
likelihood function (More explicit technical term; refers specifically to the function, not just the general idea of probability.)
Antônimos
loss function (Not a direct semantic opposite, but often conceptually contrasted in modeling, where one is maximized and the other minimized.)
Colocações
likelihood function
|maximum likelihood
|likelihood ratio
|log-likelihood
|compute the likelihood
|maximize the likelihood
Temas
science
|math
|statistics
|research
|education
Exemplos
- We use maximum likelihood to estimate the parameters of the model.
- The likelihood of the data under this hypothesis is extremely low.
- By comparing the likelihoods of the two models, we can see which one fits the data better.
Exemplos para estudantes
- In this statistics class, we learn how to calculate likelihood.
- The computer program finds the parameters that give the highest likelihood.
- They compared the likelihood for two different models.
- A higher likelihood means the model explains the data better.
- We look at the likelihood of the data for each value of the parameter.
Gramática
Forma no dicionário
likelihood
AFI
GB/lˈaɪklihˌʊd/
US/lˈaɪklihˌʊd/
Sílabas e tonicidade
like - li - hood (3 sílabas)
Stress on 1st syllable (like)
Formas da palavra
Noun
- Base: likelihood
- Plural: likelihood, likelihoods
Família de palavras
Expressões
in all likelihood
1/ˈɪn ˈɔl lˈaɪklihˌʊd/
fixed phrase
almost certainly; very probably
Used to say that something is almost sure to happen or to be true.
Exemplos
- In all likelihood, the meeting will be canceled because of the storm.
- She will, in all likelihood, get the promotion.
- In all likelihood, they have already left the city.