appoint
Americanverb (used with object)
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to name or assign to a position, an office, or the like; designate.
to appoint a new treasurer; to appoint a judge to the bench.
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to determine by authority or agreement; fix; set.
to appoint a time for the meeting.
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Law. to designate (a person) to take the benefit of an estate created by a deed or will.
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to provide with what is necessary; equip; furnish.
They appointed the house with all the latest devices.
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Archaic. to order or establish by decree or command; ordain; constitute.
laws appointed by God.
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Obsolete. to point at by way of censure.
verb (used without object)
verb
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(also intr) to assign officially, as for a position, responsibility, etc
he was appointed manager
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to establish by agreement or decree; fix
a time was appointed for the duel
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to prescribe or ordain
laws appointed by tribunal
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property law to nominate (a person), under a power granted in a deed or will, to take an interest in property
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to equip with necessary or usual features; furnish
a well-appointed hotel
Synonym Usage
See furnish.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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appointernoun
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misappointverb (used with object)
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reappointverb (used with object)
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appointableadjective
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unappointableadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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appointsimple
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appointssimple
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have appointedperfect
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has appointedperfect
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am appointingprogressive
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are appointingprogressive
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is appointingprogressive
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have been appointingperfect progressive
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has been appointingperfect progressive
Past
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appointedsimple
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had appointedperfect
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was appointingprogressive
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were appointingprogressive
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had been appointingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of appoint
1325–75; Middle English apointen, from Middle French apointer, equivalent to a- a- 5 + pointer “to point ”
Explanation
The President can appoint someone as ambassador to another county; that means to give them the job or recommend them for it. It must be nice to be appointed. Usually, people who want a job have to send in applications, do interviews, and jump through lots of hoops. Appointing is different: someone with the power to appoint can usually just give you the job. In some cases, appointing isn't a sure thing and means something closer to "recommending" — but it still beats filling out all those applications. It takes power to appoint people, which is why world leaders are often the ones appointing.
Vocabulary lists containing appoint
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Under Australian law, employers and unions appoint directors to ISF trustee boards under what is called the equal representation model.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
In 2018, he urged the president to appoint an assistant secretary to oversee DRL, a post Trump had left vacant for over a year.
From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026
Republican Governor Henry McMaster will now appoint a replacement for Graham for the rest of the year, and the party will hold a new primary to choose a candidate to stand in November's general election.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
Under South Carolina law, Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, can appoint someone to fill Graham’s vacant seat until January.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
The Roman emperor Caligula allegedly planned to appoint his favourite horse, Incitatus, to the consulship.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
Coombs said investors are currently giving Burnham the benefit of the doubt as they await clarity on who he appoints to his top team, especially who he names as chancellor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
New Jersey’s governor also appoints judges, but there’s a key difference.
From Barron's ● May 27, 2026
The court found that administrative patent judges, who hold inferior office, should be subject to appointment by both the president and the Senate, unless their relevant director appoints them.
From Salon ● May 2, 2026
Instead, the president appoints a minister from anywhere in the country with powers similar to a state governor.
From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2026
Caroline appoints me official art director of the paper chain, which means I’m going to have to do most of it and supervise the rest.
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
Also today: Mamdani appointed former FTC head Lina Khan to chair the city’s Economic Development Corporation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
"Falling inflation is news families want to hear but there is much more to do to give people the breathing space they need," said newly appointed finance minister John Healey.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
New Justice Secretary Alex Norris has been urged to reconsider the early release scheme after being appointed by Andy Burnham on Monday.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Fifa's disciplinary committee has appointed a disciplinary and ethics prosecutor to assess what happened and any player or coach involved could face suspension, while the Argentine Football Association may also be fined.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
In the afternoon of her first day in Chicago, Tuesday, June 6, the infanta had slipped out of her hotel incognito, accompanied by her lady-in-waiting and an aide appointed by President Cleveland.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
Henry Kissinger’s misdeeds in Cambodia couldn’t keep the College of William and Mary from appointing him chancellor.
From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026
More on Andy Burnham appointing new government cabinet.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
"Credibility is the highest asset in politics," he wrote on social media, and said he would begin the process of appointing Spahn's replacement.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
At Anthropic, as at OpenAI, a mission entity—here, a “purpose trust”—controls a public benefit corporation, Anthropic PBC, by appointing a majority of its board.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
He took charge, stripping away the right to strike and appointing Judge Samuel Alschuler as federal administrator to arbitrate all disputes between the packers and the union.
From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
