noun
-
outward appearance, esp without any inner substance or reality
-
a resemblance or copy
Etymology
Origin of semblance
1250–1300; Middle English < Middle French, equivalent to sembl ( er ) to seem ( see resemble) + -ance -ance
Explanation
Semblance is all about illusion. Cramming all of your dirty clothes into the closet gives the semblance, or false appearance, that you've done your laundry — but the stench might give you away. Semblance comes from the 14th-century French word for "resemble," and it is a noun for things that look one way on the outside but are very different on the inside. A popular combination is to say that a person or place has the "semblance of order," when, underneath, everything is out of control.
Vocabulary lists containing semblance
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Romeo and Juliet
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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.
Lorre says that back then, he had a semblance of an idea for a show, but it wasn’t fully formed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
The vote was widely derided by democracy monitors abroad, but China supports it as recreating a semblance of normality, analysts say.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
Ramping up Middle East crude production alone is going to take three to four months, “just to return to any semblance of normal,” Lipow said.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 1, 2026
“If every square inch of the land is developed,” Mr. Moore writes, “there will be no future for any of the species whose biology requires a semblance of wild land.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
Once again he had the semblance of a home and a new world to explore.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
