Word.ws English Dictionary

keeps up appearances

keeps up appearances is the third-person singular simple present indicative of keep up appearances.

Meaning of keep up appearances

Verb

keep up appearances (third-person singular simple present keeps up appearances, present participle keeping up appearances, simple past and past participle kept up appearances)

  1. (idiomatic) To artificially maintain an outward sign of normality; to maintain an appearance of wealth, comfort, or propriety.
    • For my father's sake, I thought I must keep up appearances, but the food stuck in my throat, and I could not swallow another mouthful.

Questions about keeps up appearances

What is keeps up appearances the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Keeps up appearances is the third-person singular simple present indicative of keep up appearances.

Words near keeps up appearances in the dictionary

  1. keeps to oneself
  2. keeps together
  3. keeps tryst
  4. keeps under
  5. keeps up
  6. keeps up appearances
  7. keeps up with
  8. keeps up with the Joneses
  9. keeps up with the times
  10. keeps vigil
  11. keeps watch

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: keeps up appearances (page history and authors); keep up appearances (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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