APPEARANCE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does appearance mean? 

• APPEARANCE (noun)
  The noun APPEARANCE has 6 senses:

1. outward or visible aspect of a person or thing

2. the event of coming into sight

3. formal attendance (in court or at a hearing) of a party in an action

4. a mental representation

5. the act of appearing in public view

6. pretending that something is the case in order to make a good impression

  Familiarity information: APPEARANCE used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• APPEARANCE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Outward or visible aspect of a person or thing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

appearance; visual aspect

Hypernyms ("appearance" is a kind of...):

quality (an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "appearance"):

countenance; visage (the appearance conveyed by a person's face)

hairiness; pilosity (the quality of having hair)

hairlessness (the quality of not having hair)

beauty (the qualities that give pleasure to the senses)

ugliness (qualities of appearance that do not give pleasure to the senses)

deformity; disfiguration; disfigurement (an appearance that has been spoiled or is misshapen)

homeliness; plainness (an appearance that is not attractive or beautiful)

blemish; defect; mar (a mark or flaw that spoils the appearance of something (especially on a person's body))

discoloration; discolouration; stain (a soiled or discolored appearance)

plainness (the appearance of being plain and unpretentious)

elaborateness; ornateness (an ornate appearance; being elaborately (even excessively) decorated)

decorativeness (an appearance that serves to decorate and make something more attractive)

etiolation (a pale and sickly appearance)

sleekness (the quality of being well-groomed and neatly tailored)

color; colour; gloss; semblance (an outward or token appearance or form that is deliberately misleading)

agerasia (youthful appearance in an old person)

look (physical appearance)

view (outward appearance)

color; colour (the appearance of objects (or light sources) described in terms of a person's perception of their hue and lightness (or brightness) and saturation)

complexion (texture and appearance of the skin of the face)

effect; impression (an outward appearance)

linear perspective; perspective (the appearance of things relative to one another as determined by their distance from the viewer)

phase ((astronomy) the particular appearance of a body's state of illumination (especially one of the recurring shapes of the part of Earth's moon that is illuminated by the sun))

vanishing point (the appearance of a point on the horizon at which parallel lines converge)

superficies (the purely external aspect of a thing; superficial appearance)

format (the general appearance of a publication)

cast; form; shape (the visual appearance of something or someone)

image; persona ((Jungian psychology) a personal facade that one presents to the world)

face (the general outward appearance of something)

Derivation:

appear (come into sight or view)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The event of coming into sight

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("appearance" is a kind of...):

happening; natural event; occurrence; occurrent (an event that happens)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "appearance"):

reappearance (the event of something appearing again)

manifestation; materialisation; materialization (an appearance in bodily form (as of a disembodied spirit))

manifestation (a clear appearance)

apparition (the appearance of a ghostlike figure)

Antonym:

disappearance (the event of passing out of sight)

Derivation:

appear (come into sight or view)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Formal attendance (in court or at a hearing) of a party in an action

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

appearance; appearing; coming into court

Hypernyms ("appearance" is a kind of...):

attendance; attending (the act of being present (at a meeting or event etc.))

Derivation:

appear (present oneself formally, as before a (judicial) authority)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A mental representation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

I tried to describe his appearance to the police

Hypernyms ("appearance" is a kind of...):

internal representation; mental representation; representation (a presentation to the mind in the form of an idea or image)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "appearance"):

illusion; semblance (an erroneous mental representation)

3-D; 3D; three-D (having a three-dimensional form or appearance)

front (the outward appearance of a person)

Derivation:

appear (give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The act of appearing in public view

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

it was Bernhardt's last appearance in America

Hypernyms ("appearance" is a kind of...):

arrival (the act of arriving at a certain place)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "appearance"):

emergence; emersion (the act of emerging)

reappearance; return (the act of someone appearing again)

apparition (an act of appearing or becoming visible unexpectedly)

Antonym:

disappearance (the act of leaving secretly or without explanation)

Derivation:

appear (appear as a character on stage or appear in a play, etc.)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Pretending that something is the case in order to make a good impression

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

appearance; show

Context example:

that ceremony is just for show

Hypernyms ("appearance" is a kind of...):

feigning; pretence; pretending; pretense; simulation (the act of giving a false appearance)

 Context examples 

His wolfish appearance caught their eyes at once, and they pointed him out to one another.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Erythrocytes with protoplasmic projections giving the cell a thorny appearance.

(Acanthocyte, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

This speedy appearance of life on Earth fits with other evidence of recently discovered 3,700 million year old sedimentary mounds that were shaped by microorganisms, first author, PhD student Matthew Dodd explained.

(World's Oldest Fossils Unearthed, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

These features have similar appearances to ejected material from craters in the icy regions of Mars and on Jupiter's moon Ganymede.

(Landslides on Ceres Reflect Ice Content, NASA)

The similar appearance and widespread nature of these fresh, shallow valleys on Mars suggest they formed on a global scale rather than a local or regional scale.

(Some Ancient Mars Lakes Came Long After Others, NASA)

Letters from several persons, whose praise was honor, followed the appearance of the little story, newspapers copied it, and strangers as well as friends admired it.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

His appearance and manner are peculiarly arresting, and as he raised his hand for order the whole audience settled down expectantly to give him a hearing.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A question about whether an individual is or was always trying to improve their physical appearance.

(Always Trying to Improve Physical Appearance, NCI Thesaurus)

Rare disorders often show up in someone’s appearance.

(Artificial Intelligence Can Be Used to Diagnose Rare Disorders with Just A Picture, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Several times when I glanced at him, I observed that appearance with a sort of awe, and wondered what he was thinking about so closely.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)