appear

[ uh-peer ]

/ əˈpɪər /

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See synonyms for: appear / appeared / appearing / appears on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object)

to come into sight; become visible: A man suddenly appeared in the doorway.

to have the appearance of being; seem; look: to appear wise.

to be obvious or easily perceived; be clear or made clear by evidence: It appears to me that you are right.

to come or be placed before the public; be published: Her biography appeared last year.

to perform publicly, as in a play, dance, etc.: He appeared as the king in the play.

to attend or be present, especially to arrive late or stay but a short time: He appeared at the party but left quickly.

to come into being; be created, invented, or developed: Speech appears in the child's first or second year.

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

OTHER WORDS FOR appear

1 emerge, arise.

See synonyms for appear on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

QUIZ YOURSELF ON "WAS" VS. "WERE"!

Were you ready for a quiz on this topic? Well, here it is! See how well you can differentiate between the uses of "was" vs. "were" in this quiz.

Question 1 of 7

“Was” is used for the indicative past tense of “to be,” and “were” is only used for the subjunctive past tense.

true

false

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of appear

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 + pārēre “to be visible”

synonym study for appear

2. See seem.

OTHER WORDS FROM appear

re·ap·pear, verb (used without object)well-ap·pear·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use appear in a sentence

Over recent months, many private and parochial schools have reported students or staff who tested positive or appeared symptomatic for the coronavirus.
Montgomery County urges private schools to consider move to all-virtual learning|Donna St. George|November 20, 2020|Washington Post
Covid-19 infection rates incommunities and schoolsIn-person schooling does not appear to increase the risk of covid-19 transmission for staff and students, according to data from New York state.
Schools are not spreading covid-19. This new data explains why.|Emily Oster|November 20, 2020|Washington Post
Late last week, the usually responsive woman appeared lethargic, “as though she was in a deep sleep,” said daughter Derede McAlpin.
Maryland and Virginia nursing homes battle explosive covid-19 outbreaks — again|Rebecca Tan, Rachel Chason|November 20, 2020|Washington Post
Murray appeared to hurt his throwing shoulder on a hit early in the game.
Kyler Murray runs out of miracles as Seahawks hang on to take over first place in NFC West|Mark Maske|November 20, 2020|Washington Post

“It is the 1775 of our generation,” declared fellow strike force team member Sidney Powell, who once appeared on Fox Business to claim that an immigrant “invasion” is spreading “polio-like paralysis” among American children.
Rudy Giuliani’s post-election meltdown starts to become literal|Dan Zak, Josh Dawsey|November 20, 2020|Washington Post
I remember all our music appeared on Spotify overnight, without anybody asking us.
Belle & Sebastian Aren’t So Shy Anymore|James Joiner|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
He appeared to understand however belatedly that he was in the presence of another kind of greatness.
Shot Down During the NYPD Slowdown|Michael Daly|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
That quote has been misattributed to him since it first appeared in 1881, when Ben would have been 175 years old.
Forget the Resolutions; Try a Few Declarations|Kevin Bleyer|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST
And that was well before this Christmas, when he appeared to joke about Obama being a Muslim.
How James Woods Became Obama’s Biggest Twitter Troll|Asawin Suebsaeng|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Now imagine that one day hope appeared, an unexpected opportunity to free yourself, to finally be yourself.
The Insurance Company Promised a Gender Reassignment. Then They Made a Mistake.|James Joiner|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A tall phantom in livery appeared, as if by magic, and signed to me to ascend the grand staircase.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
The moon seemed to smile on him; the aurora appeared to dance with unwonted vigour, as if in glee; the very stars winked at him!
The Giant of the North|R.M. Ballantyne
The thought seemed to produce the dreaded object, for next moment a large hummock appeared right ahead.
The Giant of the North|R.M. Ballantyne
At last there appeared some probability of their accomplishing this, after a most curious and truly Mexican fashion.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
We were in the midst of it, and having a merry time, when the door suddenly opened and Liszt appeared.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay

British Dictionary definitions for appear

appear

/ (əˈpɪə) /

verb (intr)

to come into sight or view

(copula; may take an infinitive) to seem or lookthe evidence appears to support you

to be plain or clear, as after further evidence, etcit appears you were correct after all

to develop or come into being; occurfaults appeared during testing

to become publicly available; be publishedhis biography appeared last month

to perform or acthe has appeared in many London productions

to be present in court before a magistrate or judgehe appeared on two charges of theft

Word Origin for appear

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

appear

OTHER WORDS FOR appear

Origin of appear

synonym study for appear

OTHER WORDS FROM appear

Words related to appear

How to use appear in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for appear

Word Origin for appear