resemble

verb

re·​sem·​ble ri-ˈzem-bəl 

resembled; resembling ri-ˈzem-b(ə-)liŋ 

transitive verb

1

: to be like or similar to

he resembles his father

2

archaic : to represent as like

Examples of resemble in a Sentence

He strongly resembles his father in appearance and in temperament.

Terrier dogs closely resemble each other.

Recent Examples on the Web

The underside is flat and painted black, likely meant to resemble heat-resistant tiles used on spacecraft such as the Space Shuttle or the Air Force’s X-37B space plane. —Kapil Kajal, Interesting Engineering, 25 Dec. 2025

One of the biggest reasons the bowl structure will at least resemble its current breadth is TV ratings. —Andy Greder, Twin Cities, 25 Dec. 2025

All of Tarantino's movies contain nods of varying vigor to the other films in his oeuvre, but The Hateful Eight resembles none so much as Reservoir Dogs, with its cast of shifty characters trapped in one location (a cast that includes former Dogs Tim Roth and Michael Madsen). —Keith Staskiewicz, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Dec. 2025

Burying gold was common in Northern California in the 1800s, according to McCarthy, mostly because many people lived hundreds of miles from anything resembling a bank. —Justin Pot, Popular Science, 24 Dec. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English resemblen, rasemblen "to be like, compare," borrowed from Anglo-French resembler, rasembler "to be like, appear to be, compare (to)" (also continental Old French), from re- re- + sembler "to look like, seem to be" — more at semblance

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for resemble

• semble
• tremble
• assemble
• dissemble
• disassemble
• reassemble

Kids Definition

resemble

verb

re·​sem·​ble ri-ˈzem-bəl 

resembled; resembling -b(ə-)liŋ 

: to be like or similar to

he resembles his father