un ‧ like ‧ ly S3 W2 /ʌnˈlaɪkli/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ likelihood ; adverb : ↑ likely ; adjective : ↑ likely ≠ ↑ unlikely ]
1 . not likely to happen:
Donna might be able to come tomorrow, but it’s very unlikely.
unlikely to do something
The weather is unlikely to improve over the next few days.
it is unlikely (that)
It’s unlikely that the thieves will be caught.
in the unlikely event of something (=if something which is unlikely happens)
In the unlikely event of a fire, passengers should move to the top deck.
2 . an unlikely place, person, or thing is strange and not what you would expect:
The birds had nested in some unlikely places.
The quiet village of Brockhampton was an unlikely setting for such a crime.
3 . not likely to be true:
an unlikely story
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COLLOCATIONS
■ adverbs
▪ highly/most/very unlikely
It’s highly unlikely that he’ll survive.
▪ extremely unlikely
The government is extremely unlikely to change its policy.
▪ rather/pretty/quite/fairly unlikely
I may have thrown it away by mistake, but that’s pretty unlikely.
▪ increasingly unlikely (=more and more unlikely as time passes)
It looks increasingly unlikely that the Bank of England will cut interest rates.
■ nouns
▪ an unlikely possibility/prospect
The most unlikely possibility was that she might resign.
▪ an unlikely scenario/occurrence
They should build a new road, but that’s an unlikely scenario.
▪ an unlikely alliance/coalition
Once he resigned as president, the unlikely coalition of former enemies fell apart.
■ phrases
▪ in the unlikely event of something (=if something which is unlikely happens)
In the unlikely event of an accident, the system will automatically shut down.