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appear

verb
ap·​pear | \ ə-ˈpir How to pronounce appear (audio) \
appeared; appearing; appears

Definition of appear

intransitive verb

1a : 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 & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about appear

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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.
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Recent Examples on the Web

 Celine Dion and her sons appear onstage at the Colosseum during her final concert June 8. — Jay Jones, Los Angeles Times, "Elvis played a string of 636 concerts in Las Vegas. Now, residencies are much shorter," 14 Aug. 2019 Roma appear to have finally given up hope of securing a deal for Gonzalo Higuain, despite chasing the out of favour Argentine for the entirety of the summer transfer window. — SI.com, "Luka Jovic: 6 Possible Loan Destinations for the Suddenly Out of Favour Real Madrid Striker," 14 Aug. 2019 But yes, Curt Schilling and former Governor Lincoln Chafee appear in the same story. — Dan Mcgowan, BostonGlobe.com, "Here’s what keeps R.I.’s business leaders awake at night," 14 Aug. 2019 The Florida Gators appear to be on track with the Aug. 24 season opener against Miami in Orlando less than two weeks away. — Edgar Thompson, orlandosentinel.com, "Gators take positive steps during team’s second scrimmage," 13 Aug. 2019 Those who care mostly about healthcare or education policy appear since to have shifted to Ms Warren. — The Economist, "Bernie Sanders’s permanent revolution," 13 Aug. 2019 As Towson University expands beyond its traditional footprint of York Road and Towsontown Boulevard, members of the campus community appear to be embracing and integrating into the surrounding area as much as possible. — Cody Boteler, baltimoresun.com, "‘Going in the right direction’: Towson University officials emphasizing connection with local community," 13 Aug. 2019 The Perseids appear at about this time every year when Earth ventures through pieces of debris left behind by the ancient comet Swift-Tuttle. — Christopher Brito, CBS News, "When and where to watch the Perseid meteor shower peak tonight," 12 Aug. 2019 In my opinion in addition to The Township staff working directly with Entergy, there appear to be opportunities to improve how companies across The Woodlands are coordinating their underground work. — Jeff Forward, Houston Chronicle, "Villager Q & A: Snyder, Brown discuss utility problems, power outages in Woodlands," 12 Aug. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'appear.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of appear

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

History and Etymology for appear

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.

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More Definitions for appear

appear

verb
How to pronounce appear (audio)

English Language Learners Definition of appear

somewhat formal : to seem to be something : to make someone think that a person or thing has a particular characteristic
: to become visible : to begin to be seen
: to arrive at a place : to show up

See the full definition for appear in the English Language Learners Dictionary

appear

verb
ap·​pear | \ ə-ˈpir How to pronounce appear (audio) \
appeared; appearing

Kids Definition of appear

1 : to come into sight Stars appeared in the sky.
2 : to present oneself appear in court
3 : seem sense 1 The runner in the lead appears to be tired.
4 : to come before the public The book appeared last year.
5 : to come into existence The first dinosaurs appeared around 215 million years ago.

appear

intransitive verb
ap·​pear

Legal Definition of appear

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)

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