seem

verb

ˈsēm 

seemed; seeming; seems

intransitive verb

1

: to appear to the observation or understanding

2

: to give the impression of being

Synonyms of seem

• look
• feel
• sound
• appear

Examples of seem in a Sentence

What they're doing doesn't seem right to me.

I tried to cheer them up because they seemed depressed.

Recent Examples on the Web

Crazy how that works, and crazy that so many people seem to have forgotten that lesson (and many others) from their civics classes in high school. —Brenda Looper, Arkansas Online, 11 Feb. 2026

For now, Democrats seem content riding the growing blowback to the administration’s heavy-handed immigration crackdown and lingering affordability concerns, but Trump is taking steps to try and limit the damage to Republicans. —Washington Post, 10 Feb. 2026

The researchers warned that while the idea of workers taking on more tasks voluntarily could seem ideal, nonstop work has the potential to lead to problems down the line, including blurring the boundary between work and non-work, as well as burnout and cognitive fatigue. —Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 10 Feb. 2026

Now that the company operates a contemporary Mexican restaurant called El Carlos Elegante, a Japanese grill in Norman’s, French-Italian fine-dining spot Mister Charles and others, rethinking The Charles seemed essential. —Sarah Blaskovich, Dallas Morning News, 10 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English semen to appear to be, be fitting, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse sœma to honor, sœmr fitting, samr same — more at same

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for seem

• beam
• bream
• cream
• creme
• deem
• dream
• gleam
• meme
• ream
• scheme
• scream
• seam

Kids Definition

seem

verb

ˈsēm 

1

: to give the impression of being : appear

the request seems reasonable

2

a

: to appear to a person's own mind or opinion

can't seem to solve the problem

b

: to appear to be

there seems no reason for worry