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:
Bill Plaschke wrote that the Dodgers are “now just eight wins away but, given how mediocre the American League playoff teams appear, they could realistically be just four wins away.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2026
Emails obtained by The Wall Street Journal show relations have soured to the point where county officials appear more inclined to block the project than negotiate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
The researchers focus on where these cells appear during different stages of healing and how diabetes can disrupt their normal behavior.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026
He doesn’t just subvert expectations; he perverts them, creating characters who appear to have rich inner lives and plenty of secrets that the audience may never fully understand.
From Salon ● Oct. 9, 2026
The slate was shown blank at the start of the séance, and after the spirits visited, messages to the living would appear.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
Rajeev Dhawan, an economist at Georgia State University, thinks that the labor market is more fragile than it appears.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
The SLC7A11 transporter appears to be an important regulator of this process.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026
In all three cases, the P/E ratio contracted, and the CDS spread widened, but Nvidia appears unscathed.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 10, 2026
"We might have something here," Pete says, as a white glow appears on the thermal image beneath a tree.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
A bottle of water appears in front of me.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
On a busy, sunny weekend close to Okinawa's capital Naha, life seemed normal as tourists and Americans who appeared to be from the military packed beaches and shopping streets.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
Sinai said it would take more than one hike to smother inflation, which the Fed appeared to acknowledge with its September projections.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
Its effects appeared both independently and alongside dietary risk factors, raising important questions about how this common plastic interacts with the body's metabolism and protective mechanisms.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026
All the more remarkable when you consider his journey with Brighton appeared over two years ago when he went home to join his beloved Borussia Dortmund.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
From under tables appeared writing paper, books, knitting yarn, tins of biscuits.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Presidents famously age during their terms, often starting off looking hale and hearty and, by the time they’re finished, appearing tired, more lined and a whole lot grayer than when they started.
From Salon ● Oct. 10, 2026
The federation's general secretary, Matt Cane, said staff had not been told the upgrade included the introduction of Palantir's artificial intelligence technology, appearing to mark its first deployment to monitor Met systems.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
Partygoers drank champagne and snacked on miniature lobster rolls, and cheered when Jaguar played a video of the Type 01 driving through the streets of Manhattan and appearing to arrive at the venue.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
After graduating from college in 1946, she lived with her family on Long Island in New York, appearing in commercials and acting in radio serials.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
Jet Stone Girl and Jet Stone Boy held each other’s hands and were staring at the stars that were appearing in greater and greater numbers by the second.
From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young
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.
