appear Hear it!

appear Definition

ap·pear (ə pir′)

intransitive verb

  1. to come into sight
  2. to come into being freckles appear on his face every summer
  3. to become understood or apparent it appears he's right
  4. to seem; look to appear to be in good health
  5. to present oneself formally, as in court
  6. to come before the public he will appear in Hamlet
  7. to be published the magazine appears monthly

Etymology: ME aperen < OFr aparoir < L apparere < ad-, to + perere, to come forth, be visible; akin to Gr peparein, to display

appear Synonyms

appear

v.

  1. To come into sight or being

    emerge, arise, come into view, come forth, come out, come forward, be within view, be in sight, present itself, show itself, expose itself, discover itself, betray itself, manifest itself, rise, come into sight, surface, become plain, issue, come into being, be published, loom, arrive, come to light, enter the picture, recur, materialize, become visible, loom up, develop, break through, show up, crop up, crop out, burst forth, look forth, turn up, stand out, come onto the horizon, meet the eye, catch the eye, spring up, pop up*, bob up*, poke up*, cut a figure*, heave in sight*, see the light of day*, peep out*, break cover*, rear its head*.

    Antonyms depart, disappear*, vanish. *

  2. To seem

    look, seem, have the appearance, resemble; see seem.

  3. To present oneself publicly

    be in attendance, put in an appearance, make an appearance, answer a summons, present oneself, be present, submit oneself, arrive, stand before, obey an order, oblige, come into public notice, come before the public, be placed before the public, come upon the stage, perform, turn up, be there, show up*, show one's face*, show one's mug*.

    Antonyms be absent, leave*, be missing.

appear Usage Examples

Preposition: on

  • screen: When an icon appears on screen during the film you can choose to go to an extended version of that scene.
  • behalf: MR H KEITH ( Instructed by The Treasury Solicitor, London, SW1 H 9JS ) appeared on behalf of the Respondents.
  • television: Fidel Castro, the Cuban president, appeared on television to appeal for calm.
  • horizon: A bonfire on the Ward probably raised the alarm when the first Viking longships appeared on the eastern horizon, around the year 800AD.
  • scene: Suddenly an American lady organist appeared on the scene, Ethel Smith.
  • TV: BBC Best of Brass This was one of the rare opportunities for brass bands to appear regularly on TV.

Preposition: at

  • bottom: Alternatively, you can search the SPM pages using the search facility that appears at the bottom of every page.
  • festival: It has appeared at many important festivals, including Aldeburgh, Salzburg, Copenhagen, Bremen and Spitalfields.
  • top: The time will appear at the top left of the screen.

Adjective complement

  • unlikely: But recently, results have been very disappointing and a medal appeared unlikely on the eve of the Games.

Used with why or when

  • whenever: A webCT course centers around a single course homepage, which appears whenever a student logs on to their course.

Infinitive complement

  • have: The Sunday Times appears to have gone directly against the views of the expert they were quoting.

Preposition: in

  • court: A man appeared in court for stealing a slide which the city council had thrown away - in a skip!
  • newspaper: Shots of the Sun branded crowds even appeared in rival newspapers.
  • episode: Gripper, played by Mark Savage, first appeared in episode 4 of Series 4, stealing a book from the local newsagents.
  • magazine: The ads will appear in magazines and on billboards from August, the leather goods and fashion operation said on Wednesday.
  • print: They may contain errors or stories which have never appeared in print.
  • edition: There is no guarantee that any submission will appear in any edition.

Preposition: for

  • plaintiff: Mr WILLIAMSON, solicitor, of Ashton, appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr GARFORTH, of Dukinfield, defended.
  • defendant: Mr Hornby, who appeared for the second defendant, accepted that this was the case.
appear Quotes

Ich habe also demnach keine Erkenntnis von mir, wie ich bin, sondern bloÞ, wie ich mir selbst erscheine. Das Bewusstsein seiner selbst ist also noch lange nicht eine Erkenntnis seiner selbst. I have no knowledge of myself as I am but merely as I appear to myself. The consciousness of myself is thus very far from being a knowledge of the self.

—Kant, Immanuel

Every man has a lurking wish to appear considerable in his native place.

—Johnson, Samuel known as Dr Johnson