appear

verb

ap·​pear ə-ˈpir 

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.

Synonyms

• show
• unfold
• come
• arrive
• reappear
• materialize
• loom

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

At a meeting Tuesday morning, Collier County commissioners appeared to have been caught off guard by the state’s plans for the Everglades airfield. —Skyler Swisher, The Orlando Sentinel, 24 June 2025

Iran's retaliatory strikes on Monday at the largest U.S. military base in the region appeared to offer an off-ramp to Trump and the United States to prevent further escalation -- something Trump embraced in his social media response to the attacks. —Benjamin Siegel, ABC News, 24 June 2025

On paper, at least, public opinion appears to lean against privatization. —James Broughel, Forbes.com, 24 June 2025

In Albertus’s account, population growth appears as a largely extraneous trigger for the Great Reshuffle, requiring little explanation. —Michael Albertus, Foreign Affairs, 24 June 2025

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

Phrases Containing appear

• appear in print

Rhymes for appear

• adhere
• ameer
• amir
• arrear
• astir
• austere
• career
• cashier
• cohere
• compere
• emir
• endear

Kids Definition

appear

verb

ap·​pear ə-ˈpi(ə)r 

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