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

• come out
• materialize
• show
• show up
• turn up
• unfold

Example Sentences

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.

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Recent Examples on the Web

His articles and car reviews have appeared in the New York Times, Automotive News, Reuters, SAE, Autoblog, InsideEVs, Trucks.com, Car Talk, and other outlets. —Sebastian Blanco, Car and Driver, 5 June 2023

His work has appeared in GQ, Teen Vogue, Man Repeller and MTV. —Philip Ellis, Men's Health, 5 June 2023

Headed into Game 2, Love has appeared in 16 playoff games and started 14 this playoffs. —Victoria Hernandez, USA TODAY, 5 June 2023

Yes, other teams besides the Celtics appear to have effort issues against the Heat. —Gary Washburn, BostonGlobe.com, 5 June 2023

Opponents describe the moves as cruel political stunts that use immigrants as pawns and leave them many miles from family, resources and even the courthouses where they are often expected to appear to plead their cases for asylum. —oregonlive, 4 June 2023

Shania McDonald is an interpretive park ranger at the national park and appeared in the show alongside the girls. —Jared Quigg, Chicago Tribune, 4 June 2023

Coincidentally, Pascal appeared as a guest on a 2001 episode. —Clayton Davis, Variety, 3 June 2023

Even those who oppose the project, often for different reasons, appear to acknowledge that the viaduct is something of a disaster that must be dealt with. —Jim Zarroli, New York Times, 3 June 2023

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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

• appear in print

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