appear

[uh-peer]

verb (used without object)

1. to come into sight; become visible.

   A man suddenly appeared in the doorway.

   Synonyms: arise, emerge

2. to have the appearance of being; seem; look.

   to appear wise.

3. to be obvious or easily perceived; be clear or made clear by evidence.

   It appears to me that you are right.

4. to come or be placed before the public; be published.

   Her biography appeared last year.

5. to perform publicly, as in a play, dance, etc..

   He appeared as the king in the play.

6. to attend or be present, especially to arrive late or stay but a short time.

   He appeared at the party but left quickly.

7. to come into being; be created, invented, or developed.

   Speech appears in the child's first or second year.

8. Law.,  to come formally, especially as a party or counsel, to a proceeding before a tribunal, authority, etc.

appear

/ əˈpɪə /

verb

1. to come into sight or view

2. (copula; may take an infinitive) to seem or look

   the evidence appears to support you

3. to be plain or clear, as after further evidence, etc

   it appears you were correct after all

4. to develop or come into being; occur

   faults appeared during testing

5. to become publicly available; be published

   his biography appeared last month

6. to perform or act

   he has appeared in many London productions

7. to be present in court before a magistrate or judge

   he appeared on two charges of theft

Other Word Forms

• reappear verb (used without object)
• well-appearing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of appear¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English ap(p)eren, from Anglo-French, Old French aper-, tonic stem of apare(i)r, apparoir, from Latin appārēre “to be seen, appear,” equivalent to ap- ap- ¹ ( def. ) + pārēre “to be visible”

Word History and Origins

Origin of appear¹

C13: from Old French aparoir, from Latin appārēre to become visible, attend upon, from pārēre to appear

Synonym Study

See seem.

Example Sentences

Yet for a man who appears to be on top of the world, he's surprisingly angry, in particular about the increasing hurdles he perceives the government is putting in the way of firms like his.

From BBC

The claim was dropped as she did not appear in court until the following month.

From BBC

They do not look as secure as they did last season and team shape appears to have been affected.

From BBC

By Sept. 10, however, Rortvedt’s time in the majors appeared to be ticking.

From Los Angeles Times

Councils will be required to act sooner to prevent homelessness by providing support to households threatened with homelessness up to six months before homelessness appears imminent, rather than the current two months.

From BBC

Related Words

• arrive 
• come 
• come out 
• crop up 
• develop 
• emerge 
• materialize 
• occur 
• pop up 
• present 
• show 
• show up 
• surface 
• turn out 
• turn up