appear
/əˈpɪɹ/verb
appear is spelled A-P-P-E-A-R: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 71 times per million words in written English, the 1,486th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, appear means “To come or be in sight; to be in view; to become visible” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in appear?
| Letters | 6: A-P-P-E-A-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 71 times per million words; the 1,486th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is appear?
Appear appears 71 times per million words in written English, the 1,486th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce appear?
- UK /əˈpɪə/
- US /əˈpɪɹ/
- US [əˈpʰɪɹ]
Appear has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-appear.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with appear?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as appear from its last stressed vowel (/ɪɹ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of appear
- appears present, singular, he/she/it
- appearing participle, present
- appeared participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does appear mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To come or be in sight; to be in view; to become visible.
- 2
To come before the public.
A great writer appeared at that time.
- 3
To stand in presence of some authority, tribunal, or superior person, to answer a charge, plead a cause, etc.; to present oneself as a party or advocate before a court, or as a person to be tried.
- 4
To become visible to the apprehension of the mind; to be known as a subject of observation or comprehension, or as a thing proved; to be obvious or manifest.
- 5
To seem; to have a certain semblance; to look.
He appeared quite happy with the result.
- 6
To bring into view
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Appear in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | apparaître, paraître , sembler |
| German | erscheinen, auftauchen , auftreten |
| Portuguese | aparecer, surgir , comparecer , parecer |
| Spanish | aparecer, figurar, aparir , comparecer, apersonarse |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does appear come from?
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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).