"be like" meaning in English

See be like in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-be like.wav Forms: is like [present, singular, third-person], being like [participle, present], was like [past], been like [participle, past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|be<is,being,was,been> like}} be like (third-person singular simple present is like, present participle being like, simple past was like, past participle been like)
  1. (with a noun)
    To be similar to (something).
    Translations (be similar to something): gelijk zijn (Dutch), olyan, mint (Hungarian), 비슷하다 (alt: ) (Korean), 닮다 (damda) (Korean)
    Sense id: en-be_like-en-verb-0nIHUDA1 Disambiguation of 'be similar to something': 99 1 0 0
  2. (with a noun)
    To be typical or characteristic of (someone or something).
    Translations (be typical or characteristic of): rávall (Hungarian), jellemző (Hungarian), tipikus (Hungarian)
    Sense id: en-be_like-en-verb-S0mHgWDg Disambiguation of 'be typical or characteristic of': 2 98 1 0
  3. (with a clause)
    (informal, idiomatic, chiefly US, MLE and Internet slang) To say.
    Tags: Internet, Multicultural-London-English, US, idiomatic, informal Synonyms: be all, be all like Related terms: this is someone
    Sense id: en-be_like-en-verb-Qs5-1W76 Categories (other): American English, Multicultural London English, English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Hungarian translations, Terms with Korean translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 8 9 78 5 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 14 13 61 12 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 13 10 71 6 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 6 6 82 5 Disambiguation of Terms with Hungarian translations: 12 15 67 6 Disambiguation of Terms with Korean translations: 9 9 75 6
  4. (with a clause)
    To be as though.
    Sense id: en-be_like-en-verb-mOccnvV8

Inflected forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "is like",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "being like",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "was like",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "been like",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "be<is,being,was,been> like"
      },
      "expansion": "be like (third-person singular simple present is like, present participle being like, simple past was like, past participle been like)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "They are like their parents in this respect.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:",
          "text": "She was like a Beardsley Salome, he had said. And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry. His wooing had been brief but incisive.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To be similar to (something)."
      ],
      "id": "en-be_like-en-verb-0nIHUDA1",
      "links": [
        [
          "be",
          "be"
        ],
        [
          "similar",
          "similar"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(with a noun)",
        "To be similar to (something)."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "with a noun"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1 0 0",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "be similar to something",
          "word": "gelijk zijn"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1 0 0",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "be similar to something",
          "word": "olyan, mint"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1 0 0",
          "alt": "와",
          "code": "ko",
          "lang": "Korean",
          "sense": "be similar to something",
          "word": "비슷하다"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1 0 0",
          "code": "ko",
          "lang": "Korean",
          "roman": "damda",
          "sense": "be similar to something",
          "word": "닮다"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1903 October 10, E. P. B., “The Children’s Column. The Sermon on the Mount. II.—The Beatitudes. Matthew v. 3–10.”, in The Inquirer: A Weekly Journal of Liberal Religious Thought and Life, volume LXII, number 3198 (302 of new series), London, page 671, column 2:",
          "text": "In these great sayings Jesus shows what people are like when God is King in their hearts, and in their lives.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To be typical or characteristic of (someone or something)."
      ],
      "id": "en-be_like-en-verb-S0mHgWDg",
      "links": [
        [
          "be",
          "be"
        ],
        [
          "typical",
          "typical"
        ],
        [
          "characteristic",
          "characteristic"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(with a noun)",
        "To be typical or characteristic of (someone or something)."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "with a noun"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "2 98 1 0",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "be typical or characteristic of",
          "word": "rávall"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 98 1 0",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "be typical or characteristic of",
          "word": "jellemző"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "2 98 1 0",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "be typical or characteristic of",
          "word": "tipikus"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Multicultural London English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "8 9 78 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "14 13 61 12",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "13 10 71 6",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "6 6 82 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "12 15 67 6",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Hungarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "9 9 75 6",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Korean translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "If he’s like “I don’t want to”, then be like “Pretty please! – It means a lot to me”.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1995, Amy Heckerling, Clueless, spoken by Dionne (Stacey Dash):",
          "text": "This weekend he called me up and he’s all “Where were you today?” and I’m like “I’m at my Grandmother’s house” […]",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012, Mike Lacher, On the Bro’d: A Parody of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, page 71:",
          "text": "A lotta times I grabbed bags of frozen chicken nuggets to take home. “You know what they say,” Ricky would be like. “Dude’s gotta have nugs.”",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To say."
      ],
      "id": "en-be_like-en-verb-Qs5-1W76",
      "links": [
        [
          "Internet",
          "Internet"
        ],
        [
          "slang",
          "slang"
        ],
        [
          "say",
          "say"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(with a clause)",
        "(informal, idiomatic, chiefly US, MLE and Internet slang) To say."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "with a clause"
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "0 0 100 0",
          "word": "this is someone"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "be all"
        },
        {
          "word": "be all like"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Internet",
        "Multicultural-London-English",
        "US",
        "idiomatic",
        "informal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2009, Heaven Crawley, quoting Hassan, “Between a rock and a hard place: negotiating age and identity in the UK asylum system”, in Nigel Thomas, editor, Children, Politics and Communication: Participation at the Margins, Bristol: The Policy Press, →ISBN, page 98:",
          "text": "When they were deciding my age in that place it was like they are going to buy you.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Judith G. Yates Shearer, “This County Named Christian”, in All Bones Be White, Lanham, Md.: Hamilton Books, →ISBN, page 52:",
          "text": "Cassy, don’t be like you don’t understand.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2016, Petina Gappah, “The News of Her Death”, in Rotten Row, London: Faber & Faber, →ISBN, section “Capital”, page 44:",
          "text": "Imi, it was like she was going to a wedding, she even had makeup on, and a black hat.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2017, D. E. Lee, “Jimmy Nails”, in The Sky After Rain, Omaha, Neb.: Brighthorse Books, →ISBN, page 226:",
          "text": "“People bet on you. Whether you win or lose. How many rounds. Anything. You’re good for the economy. Don’t be like you don’t know.” / […] Yeah, he knew. Maybe he didn’t care.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To be as though."
      ],
      "id": "en-be_like-en-verb-mOccnvV8",
      "links": [
        [
          "as though",
          "as though"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(with a clause)",
        "To be as though."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "with a clause"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-be like.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/bf/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-be_like.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-be_like.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/bf/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-be_like.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-be_like.wav.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "be like"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Hungarian translations",
    "Terms with Korean translations"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "is like",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "being like",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "was like",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "been like",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "be<is,being,was,been> like"
      },
      "expansion": "be like (third-person singular simple present is like, present participle being like, simple past was like, past participle been like)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "this is someone"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "They are like their parents in this respect.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:",
          "text": "She was like a Beardsley Salome, he had said. And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry. His wooing had been brief but incisive.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To be similar to (something)."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "be",
          "be"
        ],
        [
          "similar",
          "similar"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(with a noun)",
        "To be similar to (something)."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "with a noun"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1903 October 10, E. P. B., “The Children’s Column. The Sermon on the Mount. II.—The Beatitudes. Matthew v. 3–10.”, in The Inquirer: A Weekly Journal of Liberal Religious Thought and Life, volume LXII, number 3198 (302 of new series), London, page 671, column 2:",
          "text": "In these great sayings Jesus shows what people are like when God is King in their hearts, and in their lives.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To be typical or characteristic of (someone or something)."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "be",
          "be"
        ],
        [
          "typical",
          "typical"
        ],
        [
          "characteristic",
          "characteristic"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(with a noun)",
        "To be typical or characteristic of (someone or something)."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "with a noun"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English idioms",
        "English informal terms",
        "English internet slang",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "Multicultural London English",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "If he’s like “I don’t want to”, then be like “Pretty please! – It means a lot to me”.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1995, Amy Heckerling, Clueless, spoken by Dionne (Stacey Dash):",
          "text": "This weekend he called me up and he’s all “Where were you today?” and I’m like “I’m at my Grandmother’s house” […]",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2012, Mike Lacher, On the Bro’d: A Parody of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, page 71:",
          "text": "A lotta times I grabbed bags of frozen chicken nuggets to take home. “You know what they say,” Ricky would be like. “Dude’s gotta have nugs.”",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To say."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Internet",
          "Internet"
        ],
        [
          "slang",
          "slang"
        ],
        [
          "say",
          "say"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(with a clause)",
        "(informal, idiomatic, chiefly US, MLE and Internet slang) To say."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "with a clause"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "be all"
        },
        {
          "word": "be all like"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Internet",
        "Multicultural-London-English",
        "US",
        "idiomatic",
        "informal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2009, Heaven Crawley, quoting Hassan, “Between a rock and a hard place: negotiating age and identity in the UK asylum system”, in Nigel Thomas, editor, Children, Politics and Communication: Participation at the Margins, Bristol: The Policy Press, →ISBN, page 98:",
          "text": "When they were deciding my age in that place it was like they are going to buy you.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Judith G. Yates Shearer, “This County Named Christian”, in All Bones Be White, Lanham, Md.: Hamilton Books, →ISBN, page 52:",
          "text": "Cassy, don’t be like you don’t understand.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2016, Petina Gappah, “The News of Her Death”, in Rotten Row, London: Faber & Faber, →ISBN, section “Capital”, page 44:",
          "text": "Imi, it was like she was going to a wedding, she even had makeup on, and a black hat.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2017, D. E. Lee, “Jimmy Nails”, in The Sky After Rain, Omaha, Neb.: Brighthorse Books, →ISBN, page 226:",
          "text": "“People bet on you. Whether you win or lose. How many rounds. Anything. You’re good for the economy. Don’t be like you don’t know.” / […] Yeah, he knew. Maybe he didn’t care.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To be as though."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "as though",
          "as though"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(with a clause)",
        "To be as though."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "with a clause"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-be like.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/bf/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-be_like.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-be_like.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/bf/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-be_like.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Flame%2C_not_lame-be_like.wav.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "be similar to something",
      "word": "gelijk zijn"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "be similar to something",
      "word": "olyan, mint"
    },
    {
      "alt": "와",
      "code": "ko",
      "lang": "Korean",
      "sense": "be similar to something",
      "word": "비슷하다"
    },
    {
      "code": "ko",
      "lang": "Korean",
      "roman": "damda",
      "sense": "be similar to something",
      "word": "닮다"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "be typical or characteristic of",
      "word": "rávall"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "be typical or characteristic of",
      "word": "jellemző"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "be typical or characteristic of",
      "word": "tipikus"
    }
  ],
  "word": "be like"
}

Download raw JSONL data for be like meaning in English (6.1kB)

{
  "called_from": "form_descriptions/2028",
  "msg": "more than one value in \"alt\": (-wa) biseuthada vs. 와",
  "path": [
    "be like"
  ],
  "section": "English",
  "subsection": "verb",
  "title": "be like",
  "trace": ""
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.