appraisal
Americannoun
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appraisals
plural
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the act of estimating or judging the nature or value of something or someone.
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an estimate of value, as for sale, assessment, or taxation; valuation.
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an estimate or considered opinion of the nature, quality, importance, etc.
the critics' appraisal of pop art; an incorrect appraisal of public opinion.
noun
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an assessment or estimation of the worth, value, or quality of a person or thing See also performance appraisal
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a valuation of property or goods
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of appraisal
Explanation
An appraisal is a judgment of something, especially an estimate of how much it's worth. Usually you need an expert to give an official appraisal. If you were selling a house, you'd need an expert in real estate to give an appraisal of how much it's worth — that's an official estimate of how much you could sell it for. But this word can also be used in other less formal situations that call for a judgment or opinion of some sort. If you painted a picture, you could ask, "What's your appraisal of my work?" Hopefully the answer is "beautiful!"
Vocabulary lists containing appraisal
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
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Most Dangerous
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for August 20–August 26, 2022
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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:
"Horrendous" is not a word anyone wants to hear in their appraisal.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
They were arguing over whether an appraisal had undervalued company holdings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
Without seeing the adjusters’ reports, it’s impossible to know what happened, and not being a roof man myself, I don’t think I’d give you a better appraisal than the loss adjusters did.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026
He added that the valuations were established through the federal government’s required appraisal process, using independent appraisers who determined objective fair market value.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
It was this that was unexpectedly thrilling—the sense that there was in some small measure a salute in our cautious mutual appraisal.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
The documents included appraisals from properties in various states, and a list of horses and the ranches where they were stabled.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2026
First, Caine is known to be cautious in his appraisals.
From Slate ● Feb. 24, 2026
If you found any prior appraisals, that would be a big help.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 25, 2025
Refinancing can be a time-consuming process, with costs ranging from appraisals to lawyers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025
“I would be happy to do appraisals for you. What sort of gems?”
From "Ruby Holler" by Sharon Creech
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
