APPEARANCE | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary
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English (US)

Meaning of appearance in English

appearance
noun
us
/əˈpɪr.əns/ uk
/əˈpɪə.rəns/

appearance noun (BEING PRESENT)

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B2 [ C ]
an occasion when someone appears in public:
It was his first appearance on television/television appearance as president.
She will be making a public appearance, signing copies of her latest novel.
[ C ]
an occasion when someone goes to court to be officially involved in a trial:
This was the defendant's third court appearance for the same offense.
B2 [ C ]
a public performance by an entertainer:
He made his first stage/TV appearance at the age of six.
put in/make an appearance
to be present somewhere for a short time:
I didn't really want to go to the party, but I thought I'd better put in an appearance.
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SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Appearing & disappearing
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

appearance noun (WAY YOU LOOK)

B1 [ C or U ]
the way a person or thing looks to other people:
a middle-aged man of stylish appearance
You can alter/change the whole appearance of a room just by lighting it in a certain way.
There was nothing unusual about/in her physical appearance.
The large car outside the house gave the appearance of wealth (= suggested wealthy people lived there).
Appearances can be deceiving.
appearances [ plural ]
what things look like or seem to be rather than what they actually are:
He was a far more complicated man than outward appearances suggested.
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to/from all appearances (also mainly US by all appearances)
judging from what can be seen:
To all appearances their marriage is fine, but I think she gives him a bad time in private.
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SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Conditions and characteristics
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(Definition of appearance from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

appearance | Intermediate English

appearance
noun
us
/əˈpɪər·əns/

appearance noun (HOW IT SEEMS)

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[ U ]
the way a person or thing looks or seems to other people:
The most striking feature of his appearance was his long hair.

appearance noun (PERFORMANCE)

[ C ]
a public performance in a play, movie, dance, or other similar event:
Her only screen appearances were in two made-for-television movies.

appearance noun (BEING PRESENT)

[ C ]
the act of becoming noticeable or the fact of being present:
It was his first television appearance.

Idiom

put in/make an appearance
(Definition of appearance from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of appearance

appearance
In court appearances, neither said much by way of a defense.
From cleveland.com
With its whitewashed columns and weathered appearance, it comes off like a real house at first glance.
From Slate Magazine
The response to her appearance was so overwhelmingly positive that she decided to make her comedy club debut -- at the age of 37.
From Huffington Post
But this appearance will only be a ruse.
From TechCrunch
At least one woman who missed her court appearance because of the change had a warrant issued for her arrest, the sheriff's official said.
From Chicago Tribune
This isn't a man in control so much as one desperate to project the mere appearance of control.
From Slate Magazine
Or do we let a flag give that courthouse the appearance of an unreasonable and hostile place?
From NOLA.com
Their foursquare appearance and palpable strength are a comfort, given those last terrible images of collapse we hold in memory.
From TIME
How painful that last public appearance with her husband must have been for her and their children.
From Huffington Post
Despite limited success -- just three playoff appearances in 10 seasons -- the first 409 home games in team history, including preseason and postseason, were sellouts.
From ESPN
He pitched 141 1/3 innings in 62 games, making 17 appearances in which he recorded at least 10 outs.
From ESPN
After today's court appearance, she is now safe with her children.
From New York Daily News
But probably the most chin-scratching argument is the idea that the court can't permit an appearance until all potential conflict situations are resolved.
From Hollywood Reporter
On first appearance, the gorilla was 50 percent transparent.
From National Geographic
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with appearance

appearance

These are words often used in combination with appearance.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

aged appearance
A prematurely aged appearance is often apparent in late adolescence and early adulthood.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
bodily appearance
Similarly, proper bodily appearance resulted also from dress and hairstyle, cleanliness and posture, rather than only from physical diacritics.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
bowl appearance
The team went undefeated in 1963, earning the academy its first-ever post-season bowl appearance.
From
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
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What is the pronunciation of appearance?
 

Translations of appearance

in Chinese (Traditional)
在場, （公開）露面, 出庭…
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in Chinese (Simplified)
在场, （公开）露面, 出庭…
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in Spanish
aparición, apariencia, apariencia [feminine]…
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in Portuguese
aparição, aparência, aparência [feminine]…
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in more languages
in Marathi
in Japanese
in Turkish
in French
in Catalan
in Dutch
in Tamil
in Hindi
in Gujarati
in Danish
in Swedish
in Malay
in German
in Norwegian
in Urdu
in Ukrainian
in Russian
in Telugu
in Arabic
in Bengali
in Czech
in Indonesian
in Thai
in Vietnamese
in Polish
in Korean
in Italian
सादर करणे, दिसणे, पदार्पण…
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外見, 外観, 公に現れること…
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toplumda görünen, görüntü, görünüm…
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apparence [feminine], aspect [masculine], apparition [feminine]…
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aspecte, aparença, aparició…
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uiterlijk, verschijning, optreden…
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யாராவது பொதுவில் தோன்றும் ஒரு சந்தர்ப்பம், ஒரு பொழுதுபோக்காளரின் பொது நிகழ்ச்சி, ஒரு நபர் அல்லது விஷயம் மற்றவர்களிடம் பார்க்கும் விதம்…
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हाज़िरी, उपस्थिति, (एक सार्वजनिक) प्रदर्शन…
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(જાહેર) દેખાવ, હાજરી, (એક મનોરંજક દ્વારા એક જાહેર) પ્રદર્શન…
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udseende, ydre, tilsynekomst…
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utseende, yttre, uppdykande…
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penampilan, kemunculan…
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das Aussehen, das Erscheinen, der Auftritt…
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utseende [masculine], opptreden [masculine], ankomst [masculine]…
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آمد, ظہور, موجودگی…
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зовнішній вигляд, зовнішність, поява…
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появление, внешность…
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ప్రజల్లోకి వచ్చి కనబడే సందర్భం, వినోదం కలిగించే వ్యక్తి ఇచ్చే బహిరంగ ప్రదర్శన, ఆకారం…
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مَظْهَر, ظُهور…
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চেহারা, একটি উপলক্ষ যখন কেউ জনসমক্ষে উপস্থিত হয়, একজন বিনোদনকারীর প্রকাশ্যে কোনো অনুষ্ঠান উপস্থাপনা…
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vzhled, zevnějšek, zjev…
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penampilan, rupa, kemunculan…
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สิ่งที่ปรากฎให้เห็น, การปรากฏตัว…
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hình thức, sự xuất hiện, sự xuất hiện trước công chúng…
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wystąpienie, wygląd, pojawienie się…
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외모, 등장, 나타남…
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apparenza, aspetto, comparizione…
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appeals board
appeals court
appear
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appearances phrase
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appearing
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