appear
verb
ap·pear ə-ˈpir 
appeared; appearing; appears
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
- come out
- materialize
- show
- show up
- turn up
- unfold
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
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. See More
Recent Examples on the Web Trial testimony indicated the shootings were a plan for Muhammad to regain custody of his children by killing his ex-wife and making her death appear to be a result of random violence. 
Denise Lavoie And Matthew Barakat, USA TODAY, 17 Sep. 2022 Edwards wore a sweatsuit on the sideline and did not appear to have any kind of extra protection on his right leg. Michael Cohen, Detroit Free Press, 17 Sep. 2022 Yet what was your reaction to finding out that this does appear to be a deliberate plan by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who said, you guys are talking about straining the system to house all these people, to feed all these people. ABC News, 16 Sep. 2022 The outlets reported that drugs and alcohol do not appear to have played a role and that an investigation is ongoing. Abigail Adams, Peoplemag, 16 Sep. 2022 Trial testimony indicated the shootings were a plan for Muhammad to regain custody of his children by killing his ex-wife and making her death appear to be a result of random violence. Denise Lavoie And Matthew Barakat, Baltimore Sun, 16 Sep. 2022 Trial testimony indicated the shootings were a plan for Muhammad to regain custody of his children by killing his ex-wife and making her death appear to be a result of random violence. Stephanie Pagones, Fox News, 16 Sep. 2022 Court records say that case was disposed by a judge in June after the parties did not appear at a mandatory case management hearing. Angie Dimichele, Sun Sentinel, 16 Sep. 2022 Still, Lunna Lopes, a senior survey analyst for the Kaiser Family Foundation, said the study’s findings appear to be in line with other studies linking medical debt to poorer health and financial outcomes. Berkeley Lovelace Jr., NBC News, 16 Sep. 2022 See More
Denise Lavoie And Matthew Barakat, USA TODAY, 17 Sep. 2022 Edwards wore a sweatsuit on the sideline and did not appear to have any kind of extra protection on his right leg. Michael Cohen, Detroit Free Press, 17 Sep. 2022 Yet what was your reaction to finding out that this does appear to be a deliberate plan by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who said, you guys are talking about straining the system to house all these people, to feed all these people. ABC News, 16 Sep. 2022 The outlets reported that drugs and alcohol do not appear to have played a role and that an investigation is ongoing. Abigail Adams, Peoplemag, 16 Sep. 2022 Trial testimony indicated the shootings were a plan for Muhammad to regain custody of his children by killing his ex-wife and making her death appear to be a result of random violence. Denise Lavoie And Matthew Barakat, Baltimore Sun, 16 Sep. 2022 Trial testimony indicated the shootings were a plan for Muhammad to regain custody of his children by killing his ex-wife and making her death appear to be a result of random violence. Stephanie Pagones, Fox News, 16 Sep. 2022 Court records say that case was disposed by a judge in June after the parties did not appear at a mandatory case management hearing. Angie Dimichele, Sun Sentinel, 16 Sep. 2022 Still, Lunna Lopes, a senior survey analyst for the Kaiser Family Foundation, said the study’s findings appear to be in line with other studies linking medical debt to poorer health and financial outcomes. Berkeley Lovelace Jr., NBC News, 16 Sep. 2022 See More 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
Phrases Containing appear
Kids Definition
appear
verb
ap·pear ə-ˈpir
appeared; appearing
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.
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
appeared
verb
1
as in showed
to come into view a police car appeared just as I ran a red light Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- showed
- unfolded
- came
- arrived
- reappeared
- loomed
- materialized
- emerged
- rose
- reappeared
- happened
- came out
- turned up
- showed up
- surfaced
- erupted
- occurred
- resurfaced
- debuted
- arose
- issued
- dawned
- blossomed
- bulked
- broke out
- broke
- rematerialized
- outcropped
- sprung (up)
- shot (up)
- bobbed (up)
- cropped (up)
- sprang (up)
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- disappeared
- vanished
- went (away)
- faded
- evaporated
- dissolved
- cleared
- left
- melted (away)
- withdrew
- retired
- departed
- evanesced
2
as in seemed
to give the impression of being it appears that he doesn't hear you Synonyms & Similar Words
- seemed
- looked
- felt
- sounded
- acted
- made
- resembled
- pretended
- suggested
- came across (as)
- recalled
- came off (as)
- hinted
- implied
- insinuated
- dissembled
3
as in began
to come into existence the benefits of the exercise program should appear almost immediately Synonyms & Similar Words
- began
- started
- originated
- arose
- commenced
- was
- emerged
- formed
- arrived
- materialized
- sprung
- sprang
- dawned
- existed
- set in
- actualized
- engendered
- lived
- broke
- continued
- subsisted
- breathed
- lasted
- coalesced
- persisted
- survived
- came on
- endured
- cohered
- shaped (up)
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- stopped
- ceased
- ended
- concluded
- disappeared
- finished
- halted
- vanished
- terminated
- died
- discontinued
- evaporated
- dissolved
- quit
- quitted
- desisted
- departed
- expired
- perished
- passed away
4
as in arrived
to get to a destination a friend who daily manages to appear at our door just as dinner is being served Synonyms & Similar Words
- arrived
- came
- landed
- turned up
- showed up
- got in
- got through
- reached
- hit
- fetched
- made
- disembarked
- touched down
- debarked
- pulled in
- checked in
- blew in
- bursted (in or into)
- burst (in or into)
- waltzed (in)
- breezed (in)
- barged (in)
- clocked (in)
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- left
- went
- fled
- clocked (out)
- checked out
- vamoosed