Origin: Latin suffix -ance
Appearance has 7 different meanings across 1 category:
outward or visible aspect of a person or thing
"The sudden change in his appearance made it hard to recognize him after years away."
the event of coming into sight
"The sudden appearance of a storm cloud cast a shadow over the entire field."
formal attendance (in court or at a hearing) of a party in an action
"The lawyer filed a motion to dismiss because his client failed to make their required appearance at the scheduled hearing."
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"
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"
The act of appearing or coming into sight; the act of becoming visible to the eye.
"The sudden appearance of a storm cloud signaled that we needed to find shelter immediately."
In plain English: Appearance is the way someone or something looks to other people at first glance.
"His appearance at the party surprised everyone because he had never been seen there before."
Usage: Use appearance to describe the event of something becoming visible or a person's arrival in public. Do not use it to mean how someone looks physically, which is simply their appearance as an adjective or the noun form of look.
The word "appearance" entered English from Middle French, where it originally referred to the act of becoming visible. It eventually replaced older Germanic terms like hīew and ætīewednes that described how something looked or seemed.