be like

See also: belike

English

Verb

be like (third-person singular simple present is like, present participle being like, simple past was like, past participle been like)

1. To be similar to something.

   They are like their parents in this respect.

   • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest‎^[1]:

     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.

2. To be typical or characteristic of someone or something.
3. (informal, idiomatic, chiefly US, MLE and Internet slang) To say.

   Synonyms: be all, be all like

   If he's like “I don't want to”, then be like “Pretty please! – It means a lot to me”.

   • 1995, Amy Heckerling, Clueless, spoken by Dionne (Stacey Dash):

     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”…

   • 2012, Mike Lacher, On the Bro'd: A Parody of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, page 71:

     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.”

Usage notes

• The use of "be like" to mean "say" is considered by many to be overly informal, and normally only occurs in spoken English.
• The words after the "be like" may not actually be what was said, but instead a summary of what was said. Similarly, unlike "say", "be like" may be impersonal, e.g. 'She was really insistent. It was like "I really need that right now!"' Speakers who most often use "be like" may use "say" to emphasize that the words are a direct quotation, e.g. if the specific wording is relevant.
• The words after the "be like" may not actually be spoken, but instead be intended to represent a mood in which that thing might be said.
• Like can now also be used without be, as in "She walked in like 'we're through!'"; see the entry like.

Translations

be similar to something

• Dutch: gelijk zijn
• Hungarian: olyan, mint
• Korean: (와) 비슷하다 ((-wa) biseuthada), 닮다 (damda)

be typical or characteristic of

• Hungarian: rávall (hu), jellemző (hu), tipikus (hu)

tell — see tell

See also

• this is someone

Anagrams

• Beilke