SEEM

look, appear, seem

(verb) give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect; “She seems to be sleeping”; “This appears to be a very difficult problem”; “This project looks fishy”; “They appeared like people who had not eaten or slept for a long time”

appear, seem

(verb) seem to be true, probable, or apparent; “It seems that he is very gifted”; “It appears that the weather in California is very bad”

seem

(verb) appear to one’s own mind or opinion; “I seem to be misunderstood by everyone”; “I can’t seem to learn these Chinese characters”

seem

(verb) appear to exist; “There seems no reason to go ahead with the project now”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Verb

seem (third-person singular simple present seems, present participle seeming, simple past and past participle seemed)

(copulative) To appear; to look outwardly; to be perceived as.

(obsolete) To befit; to beseem.

Usage notes

• This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See English catenative verbs

Anagrams

• Esme, Esmé, emes, mese, seme, semé, smee

Source: Wiktionary

Seem, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Seemed; p. pr. & vb. n. Seeming.] Etym: [OE. semen to seem, to become, befit, AS. s to satisfy, pacify; akin to Icel. s to honor, to bear with, conform to, s becoming, fit, s to beseem, to befit, sama to beseem, semja to arrange, settle, put right, Goth. samjan to please, and to E. same. The sense is probably due to the adj. seemly. sq. root191. See Same, a., and cf. Seemly.]

Definition: To appear, or to appear to be; to have a show or semblance; to present an appearance; to look; to strike one's apprehension or fancy as being; to be taken as. "It now seemed probable." Macaulay. Thou picture of what thou seem'st. Shak. All seemed well pleased; all seemed, but were not all. Milton. There is a way which seemeth right unto a man; but the end thereof are the ways of death. Prov. xiv. 12. It seems, it appears; it is understood as true; it is said. A prince of Italy, it seems, entertained his misstress on a great lake. Addison.

Syn.

– To appear; look.

– Seem, Appear. To appear has reference to a thing's being presented to our view; as, the sun appears; to seem is connected with the idea of semblance, and usually implies an inference of our mind as to the probability of a thing's being so; as, a storm seems to be coming. "The story appears to be true," means that the facts, as presented, go to show its truth; "the story seems to be true," means that it has the semblance of being so, and we infer that it is true. "His first and principal care being to appear unto his people such as he would have them be, and to be such as he appeared." Sir P. Sidney. Ham. Ay, madam, it is common. Queen. If it be, Why seems it so particular with thee Ham. Seems, madam! Nay, it is; I know not "seems." Shak.

Seem, v. t.

Definition: To befit; to beseem. [Obs.] Spenser.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition