Alike | Definition, Meaning & Examples
Alike is an adjective meaning “similar” and an adverb meaning “in a similar way.” The meaning of the word can vary in degree depending on the context—from saying two things are exactly the same to saying that they merely have something in common.
The twins seem to always dress alike.
The father and son are somewhat alike, but the father is more patient.
“Look-alike”
Look-alike is a noun referring to a person or thing that looks like someone or something else. It can also be used as an adjective when it occurs before a noun. The plural noun is look-alikes. In UK English, it’s more commonly written without a hyphen: lookalike, lookalikes.
Note that only the noun is hyphenated or written as one word; the words should not be joined when using “look alike” as a verb: “They’re brothers, but they don’t look alike.”
The magician uses look-alikes in her tricks.
“Great minds think alike”
Great minds think alike is a humorous expression used to acknowledge that two or more people share the same opinion or have reached the same conclusion at the same time. It’s typically used by one of the like-minded people to mean “we are very clever.”
We often ask the same questions at the meetings. It goes to show that great minds think alike.
“Share and share alike”
Share and share alike is an idiom used to emphasize that each member of a group should receive an equal share of something. It’s often used in a legal context, such as in a will, to indicate that each individual should receive the same amount.
Paula is a very fair person. Her philosophy is “share and share alike.”
Other interesting language articles
If you want to know more about commonly confused words, definitions, and differences between US and UK spellings, make sure to check out some of our other language articles with explanations, examples, and quizzes.
Confused words
Definitions
US vs. UK spellings
Frequently asked questions
Cite this Scribbr article
If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.
Ryan, E. (2023, April 18). Alike | Definition, Meaning & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved January 8, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/definitions/alike/
