appear

verb

ap·​pear ə-ˈpir How to pronounce appear (audio)
appeared; appearing; appears
Synonyms of appearnext

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

See all Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus 

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 Kristen Wiig appears to be playing a role that Kate McKinnon would have once taken. —Andy Hoglund, EW.com, 7 Apr. 2024 The eclipse will first appear over the South Pacific Ocean and begin its journey across North America. —Ashley Strickland, CNN, 7 Apr. 2024 During the paradox, the moon appears as the same size as the sun and blocks the entire disk from Earth, leading to a period of darkness lasting several minutes. —USA TODAY, 7 Apr. 2024 In a video posted on X, the first human subject for Elon Musk’s BCI company, Neuralink, appeared to control a laptop via brain implant. —S. I. Rosenbaum, The Atlantic, 7 Apr. 2024 Eclipses appear as ill omens in Shakespeare and, of course, the Bible. —John Penner, Los Angeles Times, 6 Apr. 2024 But according to Emily Tripp, director of the civilian casualty watchdog group Airwars, the IDF’s tolerance for civilian casualties appears considerably higher than in past campaigns in Gaza and than the level accepted by other militaries in recent conflicts. —Louisa Loveluck, Washington Post, 6 Apr. 2024 Still, the Kremlin appears to be doubling down on the policy of recruiting inmates. —Milana Mazaeva, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2024 Photos appear in the news and social media posts, although that could happen less frequently as the phenomenon becomes more common. —Phil Diehl, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Apr. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'appear.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of appear was in the 13th century

Phrases Containing appear

Dictionary Entries Near appear

appeal to the country

appear

appearance

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Appear.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/appear. Accessed 15 Apr. 2024.

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Kids Definition

appear

verb
ap·​pear ə-ˈpi(ə)r How to pronounce appear (audio)
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

More from Merriam-Webster on appear

Nglish: Translation of appear for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of appear for Arabic Speakers

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