Word.ws English Dictionary

appear

UK/əˈpɪə//əˈpɪɹ/

appear verb: to come or be in sight; to be in view; to become visible.

Verb

appear (third-person singular simple present appears, present participle appearing, simple past and past participle appeared)

  1. (intransitive) To come or be in sight; to be in view; to become visible.
    • And God[…]said, Let[…]the dry land appear.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 1:9
    • There were also particles no one had predicted that just appeared. Five of them […, i]n order of increasing modernity, […] are the neutrino, the pi meson, the antiproton, the quark and the Higgs boson.2012 March-April, Jeremy Bernstein, “A Palette of Particles”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 146
    Synonyms:
    emerge
  2. (intransitive) To come before the public.
    • A great writer appeared at that time.
    • Miss Phyllis Morgan, as the hapless heroine dressed in the shabbiest of clothes, appears in the midst of a gay and giddy throng; she apostrophises all and sundry there, including the villain, and has a magnificent scene which always brings down the house, and nightly adds to her histrionic laurels.1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Affair at the Novelty Theatre”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition...
  3. (intransitive) To stand in presence of some authority, tribunal, or superior person, to answer a charge, plead a cause, etc.; to present oneself as a party or advocate before a court, or as a person to be tried.
    • We must all appear before the judgment seat.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Corinthians 5:10
    • One ruffian escaped because no prosecutor dared to appear.1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XII, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and...
  4. (intransitive) To become visible to the apprehension of the mind; to be known as a subject of observation or comprehension, or as a thing proved; to be obvious or manifest.
    • It doth not yet appear what we shall be.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 John 3:2
    • Of their vain contest appeared no end.1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
  5. (copulative, intransitive) To seem; to have a certain semblance; to look.
    • He appeared quite happy with the result.
    • They disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 6:16
    Synonyms:
    look
  6. (transitive) To bring into view
    • [Angelo] is yet a devil / His filth within being cast, he would appear / A pond as deep as hell.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...

appear meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

appear in Hindi

to seem; to have a certain semblance; to look
दिखना dikhnā

appear in Tamil

தோன்று, கண்ணுக்குத்தோன்று, முறைப்படி முன்னிலைப்படு, பலர்முன் காட்சியளி, பிரதிநிதியாகச் செயலாற்று, வெளிப்படு

appear in Marathi

to appear, be imprinted
उमटणे umaṭṇe
to appear or sprout
उगणे ugṇe

appear in Urdu

to seem; to have a certain semblance; to look
دکھایا dikhānā
More languagesFewer languages
appear in Bengali
আসা aśa
appear in Telugu
అగపడు agapaḍu, వచ్చు vaccu, వేయు vēyu
appear in Malayalam
അവതരിക്കുക avatarikkuka
appear in Kannada
ಕಾಣು kāṇu, ಕಾಣಿಸು kāṇisu, ಹೊಡೆ hoḍe
appear in Punjabi
ਦਿੱਸਣਾ dissănā, جاپنا jāpṇā, ਜਾਪਣਾ jāpṇā, ਉਗਮਣਾ ugamṇā
appear in Gujarati
પ્રગટવું pragaṭvũ, દીસવું dīsvũ, ભાસવું bhāsvũ
appear in Odia
ବାହାରିବା bāhāribā
appear in Sanskrit
काशते kāśate
appear in Assamese
আহ ah
appear in Nepali
निस्कनु niskanu
appear in Arabic
ظَهَرَ ẓahara, بَدَا badā
appear in Persian
پدیدار شدن padidâr šodan, ظاهر شدن zâher šodan, نمایادن, آشکارادن
appear in Thai
ปรากฏ bpraa-gòt
appear in Vietnamese
xuất hiện

Examples of appear in a sentence

  • Or should he say nothing about it and condone brutality for fear of appearing in the newspapers?1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 18, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
  • Surprisingly, this analysis revealed that acute exposure to solvent vapors at concentrations below those associated with long-term effects appears to increase the risk of a fatal automobile accident.2013 July-August, Philip J. Bushnell, “Solvents, Ethanol, Car Crashes & Tolerance”, in American Scientist:
  • Campion appeared suitably impressed and she warmed to him.1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 5, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

All 40 example sentences with appear

Synonyms of appear

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of appear

Forms of appear

third-person singular presentappears
present participleappearing
past participleappeared
pastappeared
second-person singular present (archaic)appearest
second-person singular past (archaic)appearedst
third-person singular present (archaic)appeareth
alternative form (obsolete)appeare
alternative form (obsolete)appeer
alternative form (obsolete)appeere

Past tense of appear: appeared

Origin of appear

From Middle English apperen, aperen, borrowed from Old French aparoir (French apparoir), from Latin appāreō (“to appear”), from ad (“to”) + pāreō (“to come forth, to become visible”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-s- (“watch, see”), s-present of *peh₂- (“protect”).

Words formed from appear

Words that rhyme with appear

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about appear

What does appear mean?
Appear means to come or be in sight; to be in view; to become visible.
What is appear in Hindi?
Appear in Hindi is दिखना (dikhnā). See Appear meaning in Hindi.
How do you use appear in a sentence?
Or should he say nothing about it and condone brutality for fear of appearing in the newspapers?
What part of speech is appear?
Appear is a verb.
How do you pronounce appear?
Appear is pronounced /əˈpɪə/ (UK).
What is the past tense of appear?
The past tense of appear is appeared.

Words near appear in the dictionary

  1. appeals courts
  2. appeals from Philip drunk to Philip sober
  3. appeals to authority
  4. appeals to emotion
  5. appeals to nature
  6. appear
  7. appear in the Gazette
  8. appear'd
  9. appearable
  10. appearance
  11. appearance money

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: appear (page history and authors); appear (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); उगणे (Marathi) (page history and authors); আসা (Bengali) (page history and authors); అగపడు (Telugu) (page history and authors); അവതരിക്കുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); ಕಾಣಿಸು (Kannada) (page history and authors); جاپنا (Punjabi) (page history and authors); દીસવું (Gujarati) (page history and authors); ବାହାରିବା (Odia) (page history and authors); আহ (Assamese) (page history and authors); निस्कनु (Nepali) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-appear.ogg.

Cite this entry: “appear.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/appear. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.