appear

verb

ap·​pear ə-ˈpir How to pronounce appear (audio)
appeared; appearing; appears

intransitive verb

1
a
: to be or come in sight
when the sun appears on the horizon
b
: to show up
He appears promptly at eight each day.
2
: to come formally before an authoritative body
must appear in court today
3
: to have an outward aspect : seem
She appears (to be) happy enough.
4
: to become evident or manifest
There appears to be evidence to the contrary.
5
: to come into public view
a performer who first appeared on a television variety show
The book appeared in print a few years ago.
6
: to come into existence
Hominids appeared late in the evolutionary chain.

Examples of appear in a Sentence

She appears a nice enough person. Winning the election appears unlikely at this point. One by one, the stars appeared in the sky. The sun began to appear from behind the clouds. The airplanes seemed to appear out of nowhere. The storm disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. The cat appears at our kitchen door every morning. One of the guests appeared a few minutes late. He appeared a little before eight last night.
Recent Examples on the Web Instead of appearing as a brunette man, Morph is now nonbinary with a bald head and white, mask-like face. Jordan Moreau, Variety, 14 Mar. 2024 Regardless of intent, Philipps appears to be on the precipice — again. Rachel Brodsky, Rolling Stone, 14 Mar. 2024 But Porter isn’t a member of that committee and her name does not appear on the vote sheet. Laura J. Nelson, Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2024 Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google | Pandora A version of this article appeared on The Takeout. Dennis Lee / The Takeout, Quartz, 14 Mar. 2024 When Joel mentioned all his own unfinished songs from the '70s and '80s, a light at the end of the tunnel suddenly appeared for Wexler. Jenna Wang, Peoplemag, 14 Mar. 2024 This story first appeared in the March 14 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Rebecca Keegan, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Mar. 2024 The actors who appear in these films trot around a circuit of similar press stops, saying similar things about their similar performances in similar movies. Peter C. Baker, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2024 Editor’s Note: A version of this story appeared in CNN Business’ Nightcap newsletter. Allison Morrow, CNN, 14 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'appear.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English aperen, apperen, borrowed from Anglo-French apier-, aper-, tonic stem of aparer, apareir, aparoir, going back to Latin appārēre "to come into sight, be visible, be evident," from ad- ad- + pārēre "to be visible, be evident, be subject (to), comply (with)," of uncertain origin

Note: Latin pārēre has been compared with a supposed base *peh2-s-, suggested as the source of Avestan pišiiaṇt- "seeing," Armenian hayim "(I) look," Albanian pashë "(I) saw," though the limited nature of the evidence makes such a hypothesis speculative.

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of appear was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near appear

Cite this Entry

“Appear.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/appear. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

appear

verb
ap·​pear ə-ˈpi(ə)r How to pronounce appear (audio)
1
: to come into sight : become plain : show
stars appeared in the sky
2
: to present oneself formally (as to answer a charge)
appear in court
3
: seem sense 1, look
things are not always as they appear
appears to be tired
4
: to come before the public
appears on television

Legal Definition

appear

intransitive verb
ap·​pear
1
: to present oneself before a person or body having authority: as
a
: to present oneself in court as a party to a lawsuit often through the representation of an attorney
also : to participate as a party to a lawsuit in a way other than by physical presence (as by mail)
b
: to present oneself in court as the attorney for a party to a lawsuit
appearing for the defendant
2
: to have an outward look
conduct that appears unethical

More from Merriam-Webster on appear

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!