appear

verb

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ap·pear | \ ə-ˈpir

appeared; appearing; appears

Definition of appear

intransitive verb

1a : 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 & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about appear

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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 This story appears in the Sept. 23, 2019, issue of Sports Illustrated. — Ross Dellenger, SI.com, "'Out of the Dark Ages': How LSU's Lethal New Spread Attack Was Built," 17 Sep. 2019 Vance's investigation appears to be covering some of the same ground as two federal probes. — CBS News, "New York prosecutors subpoena Trump's tax returns - AP source," 17 Sep. 2019 According to two screenshots, obtained by Turkos and viewed by CNN Business, the driver also appears to have been able to change his photo. — Sara Ashley O'brien, CNN, "Lyft hit by five more alleged sexual assault, rape cases in one day," 17 Sep. 2019 The senator, a former shipyard worker who regularly runs unopposed, appears to inspire a certain degree of fear in the local community. — Andrew Cockburn, Harper's magazine, "Power of Attorney," 16 Sep. 2019 At London Fashion Week, no one appears to be having a better time than Dame Helen Mirren. — Janelle Okwodu, Vogue, "Helen Mirren Is Having the Best Time at London Fashion Week," 16 Sep. 2019 Regardless of concern over climate change, there appears to be skepticism among Americans about how much humans can do about it. — Oliver Milman, Teen Vogue, "Americans Finally See Climate Change as the Urgent Crisis It Is," 16 Sep. 2019 Whenever a single play appears to have an outsized impact on the outcome of a game, coaches are usually quick to point out how many plays could have made the difference between victory and defeat. — Tim Sullivan, The Courier-Journal, "Targeting rule takes a toll on Kentucky, exasperates coach Mark Stoops in loss to Florida," 15 Sep. 2019 The pair even appears to have inked their love with tattoos referencing each other. — Stacey Leasca, Glamour, "Cara Delevingne Opened Up About How Dating Ashley Benson Has Changed Her," 15 Sep. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'appear.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for appear

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.

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Dictionary Entries near appear

appealing

appeals court

appeal to the country

appear

appearance

appearances to the contrary

appearingly

Statistics for appear

Last Updated

26 Oct 2019

Cite this Entry

“Appear.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/appears. Accessed 21 November 2019.

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More Definitions for appear

appear

verb

English Language Learners Definition of appear

somewhat formal : to seem to be something : to make someone think that a person or thing has a particular characteristic

: to become visible : to begin to be seen

: to arrive at a place : to show up

See the full definition for appear in the English Language Learners Dictionary

appear

verb

ap·pear | \ ə-ˈpir

appeared; appearing

Kids Definition of appear

1 : to come into sight Stars appeared in the sky.

2 : to present oneself appear in court

3 : seem sense 1 The runner in the lead appears to be tired.

4 : to come before the public The book appeared last year.

5 : to come into existence The first dinosaurs appeared around 215 million years ago.

appear

intransitive verb

ap·pear

Legal Definition of appear

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

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