Not likely; improbable; not to be reasonably expected; as, an unlikely event; the thing you mention is very unlikely. Not holding out a prospect of success; likely to fail; unpromising; as, unlikely means.It's very unlikely that you'll be able to walk perfectly after being in a cast for six months.
1895, H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter XNow, I still think that for this box of matches to have escaped the wear of time for immemorial years was a strange, and for me, a most fortunate thing. Yet oddly enough I found here a far more unlikely substance, and that was camphor.
1980, Robert K. Lindsay, Applications of artificial intelligence for organic chemistryThe molecular ion candidates are divided by the testing phase into three categories: rejects, unlikelies, and probables. Differences between each candidate and the prominent peaks in the spectrum are computed.
1996, Laurie R. King, To Play the Fool"Here is my every possible phone number, plus a few unlikelies. And I've also put down the numbers of Karin and Wade, in case you've lost them. Karin can come anytime; Wade, up until six in the morning."
2001, Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Marci Shimoff, Chicken soup for the mother's soul 2 (page 166)Then the most unlikely of unlikelies happened. We got another phone call. Another woman wanted to give us a baby—a boy, born just that morning. We walked into a hospital, and he was placed into my arms.
