Appearance Meaning
/əˈpɪə.ɹəns/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe act of appearing or coming into sight; the act of becoming visible to the eye.
nounA thing seen; a phenomenon; an apparition.
Sentence Examples
No one noticed the bear's appearance.
You must not rely too much on appearance.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
None
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
Her sudden ____ at the party surprised everyone who thought she was out of town.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She paid a lot of attention to her ____ for the important interview.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Middle French apparence, from Latin apparentia, from appareo. Morphologically appear + -ance. Doublet of apparence and apparency. Displaced native Old English hīew (“the way something looks or seems”) and ætīewednes (“act of appearing or coming into view”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"And now am come to ſee of whom ſuch noiſe
Hath walk'd about, and each limb to ſurvey,
If thy appearance anſwer loud report."
— 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 66, lines 99–101:
"The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite.[…]Can those harmless but refined fellow-diners be the selfish cads whose gluttony and personal appearance so raised your contemptuous wrath on your arrival?"
— 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
"KAWS’s first sculptures were limited edition toys for the Japanese brand Bounty Hunter, and the stylised figures distributed around YSP in a variety of postures – shielding their eyes from the sun, seated in apparent contemplation or leading a child-sized version of themselves over the sward – have the appearance of gigantic toys, with their instant legibility and machine-honed surfaces."
— 2016 February 4, Mark Hudson, “KAWS, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, review: 'hypnotically compelling'”, in The Telegraph:
"And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning."
— 1769, The King James Bible, Numbers ix. 15:
"Judge not according to the appearance."
— 1769, The King James Bible, John vii. 24:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Her sudden ____ at the party surprised everyone who thought she was out of town.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She paid a lot of attention to her ____ for the important interview.