appear
Americanverb (used without object)
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appears,
present (3rd person singular)
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appeared,
past participle, past
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appearing
present participle
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to come into sight; become visible.
A man suddenly appeared in the doorway.
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to have the appearance of being; seem; look.
to appear wise.
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to be obvious or easily perceived; be clear or made clear by evidence.
It appears to me that you are right.
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to come or be placed before the public; be published.
Her biography appeared last year.
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to perform publicly, as in a play, dance, etc..
He appeared as the king in the play.
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to attend or be present, especially to arrive late or stay but a short time.
He appeared at the party but left quickly.
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to come into being; be created, invented, or developed.
Speech appears in the child's first or second year.
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Law. to come formally, especially as a party or counsel, to a proceeding before a tribunal, authority, etc.
verb
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to come into sight or view
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(copula; may take an infinitive) to seem or look
the evidence appears to support you
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to be plain or clear, as after further evidence, etc
it appears you were correct after all
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to develop or come into being; occur
faults appeared during testing
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to become publicly available; be published
his biography appeared last month
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to perform or act
he has appeared in many London productions
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to be present in court before a magistrate or judge
he appeared on two charges of theft
Synonym Usage
See seem.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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appearsimple
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appearssimple
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have appearedperfect
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has appearedperfect
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am appearingprogressive
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are appearingprogressive
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is appearingprogressive
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have been appearingperfect progressive
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has been appearingperfect progressive
Past
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appearedsimple
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had appearedperfect
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was appearingprogressive
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were appearingprogressive
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had been appearingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
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 ( def. ) + pārēre “to be visible”
Explanation
If something appears, it comes into view. Rub a magic lamp and a genie will appear. If that's the case, she will grant you three wishes. Appear comes from the Latin apparere meaning "to appear, come in sight, make an appearance." Whether literally materializing or seeming to be true, the word appear is used to describe something coming into sight or presenting itself. The word can also be used to describe an actor appearing in a play. Julie Andrews appeared in the musical "Victor Victoria." When someone looks happy, he appears to be happy. When a detail seems true, it appears to be true.
Vocabulary lists containing appear
Workshop 1, Part 1
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Ceremony
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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:
“AI takes risk, recommends a narrow set of assets, focuses on specific industries, and does not appear to exhibit better performance” than passive benchmarks, researchers wrote.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026
That makes LaGuardia, built on reclaimed land next to Flushing Bay, appear highly vulnerable.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
Sabalenka didn’t appear particularly interested in policing what New Yorkers do in their spare time as recreational use is legal in the state.
From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2026
Such work could also reveal when the differences between male and female head shapes first begin to appear.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026
And the ladies appear to have come from Queen Victoria’s court.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
If the pitch comes via LinkedIn, she checks if the profile image appears AI-generated.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 5, 2026
That connection appears to restrict how freely the plants can adapt, with selection for larger flowers taking precedence over the potential benefit of earlier flowering.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026
But it appears to be ending with a curse.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026
"The decrease appears to be linked to a combination of ongoing pressures on seabird food supplies, poor winter survival and increasingly extreme weather conditions," he said.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
Mr. Andrews appears, extending a fleshy hand for me to shake.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
At a Zoom hearing on Aug. 28, Seabright appeared to signal which way he is leaning.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026
When he appeared on Chicken Shop Date, Garfield conceded it had been "vibey" between them for a while, although for some viewers the encounter didn't live up to expectations.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
“Julia appeared to be one of Epstein’s assistants working through an LLC that Epstein set up for interior design purposes,” the statement said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
Scientists also included sharks from Tampa Bay to see whether the same developmental patterns appeared in populations living on opposite sides of Florida.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026
The skull of Phineas Gage appeared on the cover of the journal Science.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
I watched as the girls bounced around the mansion, appearing carefree, bedbug free and parking ticket-free.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026
The two mayoral candidates, appearing in separate “fireside chats” at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College downtown, cast themselves as strong environmentalists before the crowd of about 200 people.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
Six of them were appearing in court on Thursday.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
Born in the north-western English town of Warrington in 1946, Curry landed his first acting job after university, appearing in the 1968 London production of the rock musical Hair.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
Brain research is proceeding at an amazing pace, with countless new studies and discoveries appearing every year.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
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.
