1 [linking verb] somewhat formal : to seem to be something : to make someone think that a person or thing has a particular characteristic : look, seem
▪ She appears angry. ▪ “Is she angry?” “So it appears.” = “So it would appear.” = “It appears so.” ▪ “Is she pleased?” “It appears not.” = “It would appear not.” ▪ She appears a nice enough person. ▪ Although everything appeared normal to me [=although I thought everything was normal], something was wrong. ▪ Winning the election appears unlikely at this point. ▪ Things are not always as they appear. [=they are not always what you think they are] ▪ It appears to us [=we think] that something should be done. — often followed by to + verb ▪ She appeared to be angry. ▪ She appears to be a nice enough person. ▪ Everyone appeared to have a good time. = They all appeared to enjoy themselves. 2 [no obj] : to become visible : to begin to be seen
▪ 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. ▪ Her grandfather often appears to her in her dreams. [=she often sees her grandfather in her dreams] ▪ The storm disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. — opposite disappear 3 [no obj] : to arrive at a place : to show up
▪ 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. — opposite disappear 4 [no obj] : to begin to exist
▪ The disease first appeared in the late 1970s. ▪ This new technology first appears in Europe in the early 20th century. — opposite disappear 5 [no obj] : to be seen or heard by the public: such as a : to go where you can be seen to give a speech, answer questions, etc. — often + before ▪ I was invited to appear before a meeting of teachers to talk about the school system. ▪ appearing before a group of reporters
b : to work as an actor or performer in a movie, on the radio, etc.
▪ The two actors appeared [=performed] together in the film. ▪ He has appeared on many radio and television shows. ▪ She appeared in her first Broadway musical last year. ▪ Several guest musicians appeared on his latest album.
c : to be published or made available to the public
▪ The story appeared on the front page of the newspaper. — often + in ▪ We got a lot of phone calls after the story appeared in the newspaper. ▪ Her papers have appeared in several different scientific journals. ▪ The book appeared in print [=was published] again a few years ago. ▪ The word first appeared in print in 1782. 6 [no obj] : to go in front of a person or group that has authority (such as a judge or council) especially in order to answer questions
▪ I appeared in front of the committee during its last meeting. ▪ She was instructed to appear in court the next morning. ▪ She appeared before the judge. ▪ He will be appearing as a witness at the trial.