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Easy vs Likely - What's the difference?

easy | likely |

As adjectives the difference between easy and likely

is that easy is comfortable; at ease while likely is probable; having a greater-than-even chance of occurring.

As adverbs the difference between easy and likely

is that easy is in a relaxed or casual manner while likely is similarly.

As nouns the difference between easy and likely

is that easy is something that is easy while likely is something or somebody considered likely.

As a verb easy

is to easy-oar (stop rowing.

easy

English

Adjective

(er)
  • Comfortable; at ease.
  • * , chapter=16
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=“[…] She takes the whole thing with desperate seriousness. But the others are all easy and jovial—thinking about the good fare that is soon to be eaten, about the hired fly, about anything.”}}
  • Requiring little skill or effort.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= A new prescription , passage=As the world's drug habit shows, governments are failing in their quest to monitor every London window-box and Andean hillside for banned plants. But even that Sisyphean task looks easy next to the fight against synthetic drugs. No sooner has a drug been blacklisted than chemists adjust their recipe and start churning out a subtly different one.}}
  • Causing ease; giving comfort, or freedom from care or labour.
    • Rich people live in easy circumstances.
    an easy chair
  • Free from constraint, harshness, or formality; unconstrained; smooth.
    • easy''' manners; an '''easy style
  • * Alexander Pope
    • the easy vigour of a line
  • (informal, pejorative, of a person) Consenting readily to sex.
  • Not making resistance or showing unwillingness; tractable; yielding; compliant.
  • * Dryden
    • He gained their easy hearts.
  • * Sir Walter Scott
    • He is too tyrannical to be an easy monarch.
  • Not straitened as to money matters; opposed to tight.
    • The market is easy .

    Synonyms

    * (comfortable) relaxed, relaxing * (not difficult) light, eath * (consenting readily to sex) fast * (requiring little skill or effort) soft, trivial * See also

    Antonyms

    * uneasy, anxious * (requiring little skill or effort) difficult, hard, uneasy, uneath, challenging

    Derived terms

    * easiness * easily * easiness * easy as pie * easy chair * easy on the eyes * easy peasy * free and easy * have it easy * I'm easy * take it easy * uneasily * uneasiness

    Related terms

    * ease

    Adverb

    (er)
  • In a relaxed or casual manner
  • In a manner without strictness or harshness.
  • Used an intensifier for large magnitudes.
  • Not difficult, not hard. (rfex)

    • Noun

    (easies)
  • Something that is easy

    • Verb

  • to easy-oar (stop rowing)

    • Anagrams

    * * * * 1000 English basic words

    likely

    English

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • probable; having a greater-than-even chance of occurring
    • Rain is likely later this afternoon.
  • probable
    • They are likely to become angry with him.
  • *{{quote-news, year=2013, date=April 9, author=Andrei Lankov, title=Stay Cool. Call North Korea’s Bluff., work=New York Times citation
    • , passage=People who talk about an imminent possibility of war seldom pose this question: What would North Korea’s leadership get from unleashing a war that they are likely to lose in weeks, if not days?}}
  • appropriate, suitable; believable; having a good potential
    • Jones is a likely candidate for management.
  • plausible; Within the realm of credibility
    • not a very likely excuse.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=December 19 , author=Kerry Brown , title=Kim Jong-il obituary , work=The Guardian citation , page= , passage=The DPRK propagated an extraordinary tale of his birth occurring on Mount Baekdu, one of Korea's most revered sites, being accompanied by shooting stars in the sky. It is more likely that he was born in a small village in the USSR, while his father was serving as a Soviet-backed general during the second world war.}}
  • promising; Apt to achieve success or yield a desired outcome
    • a likely topic for investigation.
  • attractive; pleasant
    • found a likely spot under a shady tree for the picnic.
  • Reasonably to be expected; apparently destined.
    • He is likely to succeed at anything he tries.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=November 3 , author=Chris Bevan , title=Rubin Kazan 1 - 0 Tottenham , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=In truth, Tottenham never really looked like taking all three points and this defeat means they face a battle to reach the knockout stages -with their next home game against PAOK Salonika on 30 November likely to prove decisive.}}
  • (obsolete) Similar; like; alike.
    • (Spenser)

    Synonyms

    * liable

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (obsolete) Similarly.
  • Probably.
  • *, chapter=1
    • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=Thinks I to myself, “Sol, you're run off your course again. This is a rich man's summer ‘cottage’ and if you don't look out there's likely to be some nice, lively dog taking an interest in your underpinning.”}}

    Usage notes

    * As an adverb, likely is often preceded by a modifier such as (most) or (quite). * Some usage guides consider adverbial likely'' - instead of ''probably - to be poor style and an artificial, sometimes pretentious way to imply a sense of erudition. One can also opt for the somewhat rarer adverbial form likelily.

    Noun

    (likelies)
  • Something or somebody considered likely.

    • Statistics

    * English hedges English modal adverbs