Library / English Dictionary

SEEM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect

Example:

They appeared like people who had not eaten or slept for a long time

Synonyms:

appear; look; seem

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "seem" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "seem"):

make (appear to begin an activity)

cut (give the appearance or impression of)

feel (produce a certain impression)

pass off (be accepted as something or somebody in a false character or identity)

sound (appear in a certain way)

come across (be perceived in a certain way; make a certain impression)

beam; glow; radiate; shine (have a complexion with a strong bright color, such as red or pink)

gleam; glint; glisten; glitter; shine (be shiny, as if wet)

jump; jump out; leap out; stand out; stick out (be highly noticeable)

lift; rear; rise (rise up)

loom (come into view indistinctly, often threateningly)

feel (be felt or perceived in a certain way)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s Adjective/Noun
Somebody ----s Adjective
Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE

Sentence example:

They seem to move

Sense 2

Meaning:

Seem to be true, probable, or apparent

Example:

It appears that the weather in California is very bad

Synonyms:

appear; seem

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "seem" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "seem"):

seem (appear to one's own mind or opinion)

Sentence frame:

It ----s that CLAUSE

Sense 3

Meaning:

Appear to one's own mind or opinion

Example:

I can't seem to learn these Chinese characters

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "seem" is one way to...):

appear; seem (seem to be true, probable, or apparent)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE

Sense 4

Meaning:

Appear to exist

Example:

There seems no reason to go ahead with the project now

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "seem" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

They seem to be quite active and look very well-fed.

(Three New Species of Fish Found at Bottom of Pacific Ocean, VOA)

Bath seems full, and everything as usual.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

The toil of the traces seemed the supreme expression of their being, and all that they lived for and the only thing in which they took delight.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Some people seem able to eat what they like and remain thin.

(Slim people have a genetic advantage when it comes to maintaining their weight, University of Cambridge)

It quite broke his career, or so it seemed.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

They often seem to be in their "own world."

(Autism, NIH: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)

The cause is not known, but they seem to develop during pregnancy or soon after birth.

(Arteriovenous Malformations, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

"Your hands seemed too small for your body."

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

At first this might seem like a good thing.

(Striped maple trees often change mating types, with females more likely to die, National Science Foundation)

Hence, in most English castles, and in Castle Twynham among the rest, chambers were to be found which would seem to be not wanting either in beauty or in comfort.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)