re ‧ sem ‧ blance /rɪˈzembləns/ BrE AmE noun [uncountable and countable]
if there is a resemblance between two people or things, they are similar, especially in the way they look ⇨ similarity
resemblance between
The resemblance between Susan and her sister was remarkable.
bear a (close/striking/uncanny etc) resemblance to somebody/something (=look like)
Tina bears a striking resemblance to her mother.
bear little/no resemblance to somebody/something
What happens in the film bears little resemblance to what actually happened.
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COLLOCATIONS
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUNS + resemblance
▪ a close resemblance
The vase bore a close resemblance to one owned by my mother.
▪ a strong resemblance
This slender, feathery herb has a strong resemblance to fennel.
▪ a striking resemblance (=very strong and noticeable)
There's a striking resemblance between the two boys.
▪ a remarkable resemblance (=unusual or surprising)
Everyone notices the remarkable resemblance between Mathilda and Anne.
▪ an uncanny resemblance (=noticeable and difficult to explain)
I'd always thought that Jo and Freddie had an uncanny resemblance.
▪ a slight/faint resemblance (=not strong)
Don't you think she has a slight resemblance to that blonde singer in Abba?
▪ a passing resemblance (=slight)
There was no more than a passing resemblance between the sisters.
▪ a superficial resemblance (=when something seems to look like something else, but is in fact quite different)
Its spines give it a superficial resemblance to a hedgehog.
▪ somebody's physical resemblance to somebody
People often commented on his physical resemblance to his father.
▪ a family resemblance (=between members of the same family)
I couldn't detect any family resemblance.
■ verbs
▪ bear/have a resemblance to somebody/something
People said he bore a striking resemblance to the President.
▪ bear little/no resemblance to somebody/something
He bore little resemblance to the photograph in the newspaper.
■ phrase
▪ there the resemblance ends (=they are not similar in any other way)
They are both strong-minded women, but there the resemblance ends.