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:
“It does appear from the data the state recently released that some homes may not meet the cleanup goals and that additional work may be needed to ensure these homes meet the standard.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
He is due to appear via video link before Dungannon Magistrates' Court on 7 November.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
Ms. Krasny’s team has since unearthed many more and selected 417 to translate, some of which appear here for the first time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
Some people who eventually experience a heart attack do not appear to be at particularly high risk under conventional screening methods.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 6, 2026
Then he took the lighter out of his other pocket and tried to push hard on the little ridged wheel that would make the flame appear.
From "All About Sam" by Lois Lowry
Skipp Townsend is a former gang member who for more than two decades has been the head of one of the city’s largest intervention programs and often addresses the media and appears alongside city leaders.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
“You can pretty much always reproduce their investment returns without liquidity reduction or poor tax features — not an issue for a qualified account, which this appears to be,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2026
The yield on Australia’s 10-year government bond appears set to keep falling, having already dropped below 5.0% to the lowest level since late August.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
The front of the bus appears to be heavily damaged.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
Then comes the part in the video where the love of her life appears and she rushes into his arms.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
But Cohen was more circumspect, explaining the current disruption appeared more linked to a record-breaking high-pressure system over Scandinavia and northwestern Russia, which are more favored in La Nina years.
From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026
But what if valuations are at their lowest in years, and at levels that had previously marked major market bottoms, even as fundamentals still appeared to be improving at a relatively fast rate?
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2026
The following month he appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court, in London.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
He appeared before Benítez, then a district judge presiding over the Canadian’s extradition proceeding to the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026
Clare saw himself as a young kit, scared and alone and barely understanding the white fox who’d appeared from the shadows.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Perhaps most controversially was Barry's second goal, with the ball appearing to touch the striker's arm before it went into the goal.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
A central concept is entropy, which describes how many different microscopic arrangements a system can have while appearing unchanged from the outside.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2026
Made entirely from woodcuts, these visually sumptuous objects are the subject of a show that looks at their incredibly short history, appearing for just three decades.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026
Also on set but not appearing in the video was actor Margot Kidder, who had appeared in an episode the previous season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
Within weeks, versions of “Singular Revelations” circulated throughout the country’s newspapers, appearing in Vermont, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and North Carolina, then crossing the Atlantic to Dublin and London.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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