1) A comparative phrase meaning "possessing no great dissimilarity from, but not neccesarily possessing
similarity to."
That subtle denotation escapes most,
and it is most commonly used as:
2) a clumsy, noncomittal way of expressing simple
similarity.
1) Well, yes, I guess it would be fair to say that Bush's appropriation of power for the
executive is not unlike the
administration of Hitler's Germany, but that misses the point.
2) He looks not unlike
Elijah Wood.