Meaning & use
akin
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Meanings
adjectiveafter a verb
Similar to something else in nature or character, though not exactly the same.
Grammar: Always followed by to and used after a verb: this is akin to that.
Patterns
- akin to something
- be akin to something
Swimming in cold water is akin to being slapped by a hundred small hands.
Her feeling was akin to relief, though more complicated.
The tool is akin to a hammer but lighter.
adjectiveafter a verbold-fashioned
Related by family or blood.
Grammar: A rarer, older use, often with to or with a noun showing relation.
Patterns
- akin to someone
- be akin
The two families were akin through marriage.
She claimed to be akin to the old nobility.
They were distantly akin, sharing only a great-grandfather.
Common combinations
- akin to
- The sound was akin to thunder.
- closely akin
- The two languages are closely akin.
- something akin to
- She felt something akin to pity.
- vaguely akin
- The taste is vaguely akin to licorice.
- akin to magic
- The result seemed akin to magic.
Synonyms and how they differ
- similar
- Similar is common and neutral and can come before a noun, while akin must be followed by to.
- comparable
- Comparable suggests two things can be fairly measured against each other, not just that they feel alike.
- analogous
- Analogous is more technical and means alike in function or structure.
- related
- Related suggests an actual connection, whereas akin often describes only a likeness.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: akin or akimbo?
akin vs akimbo
Akimbo describes arms with hands on hips and elbows out; it does not mean similar.
Practice
The loud noise from the engine was ___ to a dragon roaring.
Choose one answer.
Akin must be followed by to. Alike and same do not fit this pattern before to, and like of is not standard.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “akin”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.