seem

verb

ˈsēm 

seemed; seeming; seems

intransitive verb

1

: to appear to the observation or understanding

2

: to give the impression of being

Synonyms

• look
• feel
• sound
• appear

Examples of seem in a Sentence

What they're doing doesn't seem right to me.

I tried to cheer them up because they seemed depressed.

Recent Examples on the Web

Those who have used the store and still have Amazon Coins will see those refunded, albeit details on how and when that will be done seem scarce. —Zak Doffman, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2025

Gronowski seems likely to start, but Brown has been showing great flashes so far early in the year. —Evan Massey, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Aug. 2025

On Rush’s pick six by Andrew Booth in the first quarter, Wester seemed slow to get his head around, and then he got muscled by the Dallas cornerback. —Jeff Zrebiec, New York Times, 17 Aug. 2025

Daniel Brunskill, who struggled for much of camp, seemed to help his stock with a solid game against Detroit. —Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 17 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English semen to appear to be, be fitting, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse sœma to honor, sœmr fitting, samr same — more at same

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for seem

• beam
• bream
• cream
• creme
• deem
• dream
• gleam
• meme
• ream
• scheme
• scream
• seam

Kids Definition

seem

verb

ˈsēm 

1

: to give the impression of being : appear

the request seems reasonable

2

a

: to appear to a person's own mind or opinion

can't seem to solve the problem

b

: to appear to be

there seems no reason for worry