What does "appear" mean?

1. (to become visible) to start to be seen or to come into sight. 2. (to seem) to give the impression of being something. 3. (to perform or be published) to be seen in a film, play, or book. 4. (legal presence) to go to a court of law to answer a charge or give evidence.

appear — meaning, definition & examples

Q: Is it correct to say "It appears me that he is tired."?

No — say "It appears to me that he is tired.". When 'appear' means 'seem', use 'to' before the person who has the impression.

Word

01to become visible

A2 · Elementary

v. to start to be seen or to come into sight.

v. to come into sight or become visible to the eye. Intransitive — does not take a direct object.

“A small boat slowly appeared on the horizon as the fog cleared.”

“Cracks began to appear in the building's foundation after the heavy rains, causing concern among the residents.”

Synonyms

emerge materialize

Antonyms

disappear vanish

02to seem

B1 · Intermediate

v. to give the impression of being something.

v. to give the impression of being or doing something; functions as a copular verb.

“The new student appears to be very shy and quiet.”

“The results appear to be consistent with our initial hypothesis, though further testing is required to confirm the trend.”

Pitfall

It appears me that he is tired.

It appears to me that he is tired.

When 'appear' means 'seem', use 'to' before the person who has the impression.

Synonyms

seem look

03to perform or be published

B1 · Intermediate

v. to be seen in a film, play, or book.

v. to come before the public in a performance, publication, or broadcast.

“She has appeared in several popular television shows this year.”

“The author's latest essay will appear in the next issue of the literary journal.”

Synonyms

feature star

04legal presence

C1 · Advanced Law Formal

v. to go to a court of law to answer a charge or give evidence.

v. to present oneself formally before an authority or tribunal, especially as a party to a legal case.

“The witness was ordered to appear in court on Tuesday morning.”

“The defendant failed to appear before the magistrate, resulting in an immediate warrant for his arrest.”

Synonyms

attendpresent oneself

Common phrases and expressions where native English speakers use the word “appear” in context.

01. appear in your e-mail 02. appear on the site 03. data appear 04. frequently appear 05. initially appear 06. pattern appear 07. appear on first 08. appeared in nearly 09. appeared to show 10. appear immediately 11. appear in court 12. appear to confirm

“A number of scientists, including former competition judges, complained to Nikon on its LinkedIn page that the video did not appear to be real.”

BBC News 9 Oct 2026

“The troubling question on the mind of many who have spotted them above is: why? Vegard Rabban had little doubt about what he was seeing when a strange red light appeared between his house and garage on Norway’s west coast one cold Friday night in late September.”

The Guardian 5 Oct 2025

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”).

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

VERB

appear(A2)

NOUN

ADJECTIVE

ADVERB