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:
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
In mid-February, a trust bought a 5,000-square-foot home listed for $2.4 million in a gated community in Denton County, according to the appraisal district and the seller’s real estate agent.
From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026
One of her team jokes that this will come up in her appraisal.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
Don’t take the world’s appraisal of you and make it your own.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
Then there are others where fable, myth, preconception, love, longing, or prejudice step in and so distort a cool, clear appraisal that a kind of high-colored magical confusion takes permanent hold.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
First, Caine is known to be cautious in his appraisals.
From Slate ● Feb. 24, 2026
As beneficiaries, you and your sister have a right to receive financial documents related to the trust, including bank statements, real-estate appraisals, investment-portfolio statements, fees paid to the trustee etc.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 11, 2025
Planning appraisals are progressing and BP expects well activities to start in early 2027.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025
Mainstream pundits were tactfully silent in their appraisals of this event, no doubt wanting to avoid the appearance of mocking anyone’s grief.
From Salon ● Oct. 1, 2025
Re-reading these brief moralistic appraisals usually left me disheartened.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
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.
