likelihood
Chance of occurrence
Likelihood is the chance or probability of something happening.
It sits between possibility and certainty: There's a strong likelihood of rain tomorrow.
The word often appears with modifiers indicating degree: in all likelihood means very probably, while little likelihood suggests something is improbable.
Unlike probability, likelihood rarely takes numerical values—it deals in qualitative assessment rather than calculation.
Likelihood expressed numerically
- chanceLikelihood of occurrence
- probabilityQuantified chance of occurrence
- percentageProportion out of hundred
- ratioComparative numerical relation
frequency · statistics · distribution · calculation · estimation · correlation · proportion · mean
Approximate value judgment
- evaluationDetermining worth or quality
- judgmentReasoned decision-making capacity
- appraisalEstimation of worth
- predictionForecast of coming events
forecast · projection · expectation · approximation · conjecture · speculation · analysis · outlook
Quality inspiring trust
- believabilityCapacity to seem true
- feasibilityPotential for success
- reasonablenessQuality of being fair-minded
- possibilityState of being achievable
viability · conceivability · probability · prospect · potential · tenable · defensible · cogent
Lack of predictable pattern
- luckChance affecting outcomes
- happenstanceUnplanned circumstance
- serendipityAccidental fortunate discovery
- flukeChance stroke of luck
accident · coincidence · fate · fortune · lottery · gamble · fifty-fifty · toss-up
Lack of firm belief
- unpredictabilityState resisting forecasts
- ambiguityOpenness to multiple interpretations
- variabilityTendency to change
- indeterminacyLack of fixed outcome
contingency · imprecision · vagueness · tentativeness · iffiness · equivocation · questionability · inconclusiveness
Source of potential harm
- dangerExposure to harm
- threatIndication of potential harm
- exposureState of being unprotected
- vulnerabilityOpenness to harm
peril · jeopardy · liability · precariousness · susceptibility · downside · worst-case
odds
Likelihood expressed numerically
- chanceLikelihood of occurrence
- probabilityQuantified chance of occurrence
- percentageProportion out of hundred
ratio · frequency · statistics · distribution · calculation · estimation · correlation · proportion · mean · variance
estimation
Approximate value judgment
- evaluationDetermining worth or quality
- judgmentReasoned decision-making capacity
- appraisalEstimation of worth
prediction · forecast · projection · expectation · approximation · conjecture · speculation · analysis · outlook · prognosis
credibility
Quality inspiring trust
- believabilityCapacity to seem true
- feasibilityPotential for success
- reasonablenessQuality of being fair-minded
possibility · viability · conceivability · probability · prospect · potential · tenable · defensible · cogent
randomness
Lack of predictable pattern
- luckChance affecting outcomes
- happenstanceUnplanned circumstance
- serendipityAccidental fortunate discovery
fluke · accident · coincidence · fate · fortune · lottery · gamble · fifty-fifty · toss-up · crapshoot
doubt
Lack of firm belief
- unpredictabilityState resisting forecasts
- ambiguityOpenness to multiple interpretations
- variabilityTendency to change
indeterminacy · contingency · imprecision · vagueness · tentativeness · iffiness · equivocation · questionability · inconclusiveness · unknowability
hazard
Source of potential harm
vulnerability · peril · jeopardy · liability · precariousness · susceptibility · downside · worst-case
- speculationconjecture, guess, guessing, speculation, hypothesis
- GLMsdeviance, dispersion, offset
- graphical modelsnode, nodes, edge, edges, hidden variables
- risk analysisrisk assessment, risk management, risk mitigation, risk analysis, risk factors
- chancechance, luck, lottery, dice, randomness
- expectationsexpect, expectation, anticipate, expectancy, await
likelihoodunlikelihood
State of being improbable
unlikeliness · improbability · low probability · implausibility · remoteness
likelihoodimpossibility
State of being unachievable
inconceivability · impracticability · impracticality · unthinkability · infeasibility
likelihoodimplausibility
State of seeming unlikely
incredibility · dubiousness · doubtfulness · unbelievability · improbability
- in all likelihoodAlmost certainly true