SINCE 1828
appoint
verb
ap·point
| \ ə-ˈpȯint
\
\
appointed;
appointing;
appoints
Definition of appoint
1a
: to fix or set officially
appoint a trial date
b
: to name officially
will appoint her director of the program
2
: to provide with complete and usually appropriate or elegant furnishings or equipment
a beautifully appointed room
: to exercise a power of appointment
Keep scrolling for more
Examples of appoint in a Sentence
She was appointed professor of chemistry at the university.
After his parents died, the boy's uncle was appointed as his guardian.
Every year, the group appoints three new members.
a committee appointed by Congress
the company's newly appointed assistant director
See More
Recent Examples on the Web
Eugenie’s father, Andrew, Duke of York, was appointed to the Order in 2006. — Blake Bakkila, Good Housekeeping, "The Special Meaning Behind the Badge on Princess Eugenie's Wedding Invitations," 14 Sep. 2018 Such children don't have a right to a court-appointed attorney, and 90 percent of kids without a lawyer are returned to their home countries, according to Kids in Need of Defense, a group that provides legal representation. — Anchorage Daily News, "Kids as young as 1 in US court, awaiting reunion with family," 8 July 2018 Such children don't have a right to a court-appointed attorney, and 90 percent of kids without a lawyer are returned to their home countries, according to Kids in Need of Defense, a group that provides legal representation. — Astrid Galvan, azcentral, "Migrant family separations: Children as young as 1 year old in U.S. court, awaiting reunion," 7 July 2018 Until 1948, all our governors were appointed by the U.S. government. — Erika P. Rodriguez, Smithsonian, "The Slow Recovery in Puerto Rico," 27 June 2018 Trump first appointed the former Alabama senator and state attorney in January 2017, and Sessions was sworn in the next month. — Cindy Otis, Teen Vogue, "Why Jeff Sessions's Resignation May Be Sketchier Than You Think," 8 Nov. 2018 Trump appointed Sessions’s chief of staff at the Department of Justice, Matthew G. Whitaker, as acting attorney general. — Vogue, "Attorney General Jeff Sessions Resigns; the Internet Reacts," 7 Nov. 2018 In addition, appoint an employee representative to the board. — Sam Byford, The Verge, "Google employees worldwide are walking out today to protest handling of sexual misconduct," 1 Nov. 2018 The council appointed Bryan Jeffries as the interim district 2 councilman. — Jessica Boehm, azcentral, "Phoenix City Hall shake-up: What happens when Valenzuela, Gallego resign?," 10 July 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'appoint.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
More Definitions for appoint
appoint
verb
English Language Learners Definition of appoint
: to choose (someone) to have a particular job : to give (someone) a position or duty
: to decide or establish (something) in an official way
: to decide (the time or place at which something will happen or be done)
See the full definition for appoint in the English Language Learners Dictionary
appoint
verb
ap·point
| \ ə-ˈpȯint
\
\
appointed;
appointing
Kids Definition of appoint
1
: to choose for some duty, job, or office
The school board appointed three new teachers.
2
: to decide on usually from a position of authority
The teacher appointed a time for our meeting.
appoint
transitive verb
ap·point
| \ ə-ˈpȯint
\
\
Legal Definition of appoint
1
: to name officially to a position
appointed to the agency's top post appointed conservator of the estate
2
: to determine the distribution of (property) by exercising the authority granted by a power of appointment
a general power to appoint the corpus of a trust— W. M. McGovern, Jr. et al.
: to exercise a power of appointment — see also power of appointment
Other Words from appoint
appointive
\ ə-ˈpȯin-tiv
\
adjective
\
adjective
appointment
noun
Keep scrolling for more
Comments on appoint
What made you want to look up appoint? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
What did you just call me?! A Quiz
-
- If a member of the audience describes your speech as bombastic, does that person mean it is:
Test your vocabulary with our 10-question quiz!
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZ
Share appoint
Resources for appoint