Dictionary Definition
appearance
Noun
1 outward or visible aspect of a person or thing
[syn: visual
aspect]
2 the event of coming into sight [ant: disappearance]
3 formal attendance (in court or at a hearing) of
a party in an action [syn: appearing, coming
into court]
4 a mental representation; "I tried to describe
his appearance to the police"
5 the act of appearing in public view; "the
rookie made a brief appearance in the first period"; "it was
Bernhardt's last appearance in America" [ant: disappearance]
6 pretending that something is the case in order
to make a good impression; "they try to keep up appearances"; "that
ceremony is just for show" [syn: show]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Etymology
From apparence, from apparentia, from appareo.Noun
- The act of appearing or coming into sight; the act of becoming visible to the eye; as, his sudden appearance surprised me.
- A thing seen; a phenomenon; a phase; an apparition; as, an appearance in the sky.
- Personal presence; exhibition of the person; look; aspect;
mien.
- And now am come to see . . . It thy appearance answer loud report. --Milton.
- Semblance, or apparent likeness; external show. pl. Outward
signs, or circumstances, fitted to make a particular impression or
to determine the judgment as to the character of a person or a
thing, an act or a state; as, appearances are against him.
- There was upon the tabernacle, as it were, the appearance of
fire. --Num. ix. 15.
- For man looketh on the outward appearance. --1 Sam. xvi. 7.
- Judge not according to the appearance. --John. vii. 24.
- For man looketh on the outward appearance. --1 Sam. xvi. 7.
- There was upon the tabernacle, as it were, the appearance of
fire. --Num. ix. 15.
- The act of appearing in a particular place, or in society, a
company, or any proceedings; a coming before the public in a
particular character; as, a person makes his appearance as an
historian, an artist, or an orator.
- Will he now retire, After appearance, and again prolong Our expectation? --Milton.
- The coming into court of either of the parties; the being present in court; the coming into court of a party summoned in an action, either by himself or by his attorney, expressed by a formal entry by the proper officer to that effect; the act or proceeding by which a party proceeded against places himself before the court, and submits to its jurisdiction. --Burrill. --Bouvier. --Daniell.
Related terms
- To put in an appearance = to be present; to appear in person.
- To save appearances = to preserve a fair outward show.
Translations
The act of appearing or coming into sight
- Catalan: aparició
- Finnish: ilmestyminen, ilmaantuminen
- German: Erscheinen , Auftritt
- Hebrew: הופעה (hofa'a)
- Kurdish:
- Portuguese: aparição
- Spanish: aparición
- Swedish: ankomst
A thing seen
- Catalan: aparició
- Portuguese: aparição
- Spanish: aparición
- Swedish: framträdande
Personal presence
- Catalan: aparença
- Finnish: julkiasu, ulkomuoto, ulkonäkö
- German: Anwesenheit
- Portuguese: aparência
- Spanish: apariencia
Semblance, or apparent likeness
- Japanese: 様子 (yōsu)
- Portuguese: aparência
- Swedish: tillstymmelse, sken, utseende
The act of appearing in a particular place, or
in society, a company, or any proceedings
- Portuguese: aparecimento
- Swedish: uppträdande, framträdande
The coming into court of either of the parties
- Portuguese: comparecimento
Extensive Definition
Appearance may refer to:
- In physiognomy, Human physical appearance.
- Appearance in philosophy, see phenomena.
- In law, Appearance in court.
- In baseball, number of games a pitcher appears in (see games pitched).
- Appearances, a 2001 album by Nikkole.
- Appearances (film), a 1921 film directed by Donald Crisp.
- Point of appearance, a term used in telecommunications
- Phenomena (disambiguation)
- :Category:Vehicle modification regarding automobile appearance
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
Christophany, Masan, Prospero, Satanophany, accomplishment, achievement, acting, advent, affectation, air, airiness, angelophany, apparent
character, apparition, appearances, approach, arrival, aspect, astral, astral spirit, attainment, attitudinizing, avatar, banshee, bearing, bluff, bluffing, cheating, color, coloring, coming, control, countenance, deception, delusion, delusiveness, demeanor, departed spirit,
disclosure,
disembodied spirit, disguise, display, dissemblance, dissembling, dissemination, dissimulation, duppy, dybbuk, eidolon, embodiment, epiphany, evidence, evincement, expression, exteriority, exteriors, external
appearance, externality, externalness, externals, extrinsicality, facade, face, fakery, faking, fallaciousness, false
air, false appearance, false front, false image, false light, false
show, falseness,
falsity, fantasy, features, feigning, feint, fiction, figure, foreignness, form, four-flushing, fraud, front, gaudiness, ghost, gilt, gloss, grateful dead, guide, guise, hant, haunt, hint, humbug, humbuggery, idealization, idolum, illusion, illusionism, illusionist, illusiveness, image, immateriality, imposture, incarnation, incorporeal, incorporeal
being, incorporeity, indication, larva, lemures, lineaments, look, looks, magic, magic act, magic show,
magician, make-believe,
manes, manifestation, manner, masquerade, materialization, mere
externals, meretriciousness,
mien, mirage, oni, openness, ostent, ostentation, outerness, outside, outward appearance,
outward show, outwardness, phantasm, phantasma, phantasmagoria, phantom, phasm, phenomenon, playacting, pneumatophany, poltergeist, pose, posing, posture, presence, prestidigitation,
pretense, pretension, pretext, proof, public image, publication, reaching, representation, revelation, revenant, seeming, semblance, shade, shadow, shallowness, sham, shape, show, showing, shrouded spirit,
simulacrum, simulation, sleight of hand,
sorcerer, sorcery, specious appearance,
speciousness,
specter, spectral ghost,
spirit, spook, sprite, suggestion, superficiality, surface
appearance, surface show, theophany, unactuality, unreality, unsubstantiality, vain
show, varnish, vision, waking dream, walking
dead man, wandering soul, wildest dream, window dressing, wraith, zombie