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the act or fact of , as to the eye or mind or before the public:
the unannounced appearance of dinner guests; the last appearance of caruso in aïda; her first appearance at a stockholders’ meeting.
the state, condition, manner, or style in which a person or object ; outward look or aspect:
a table of antique appearance; a man of n-ble appearance.
outward show or seeming; semblance:
to avoid the appearance of coveting an honor.
law. the coming into court of either party to a suit or action.
appearances, outward impressions, indications, or circ-mstances:
by all appearances, he enjoyed himself.
philosophy. the sensory, or phenomenal, aspect of existence to an observer.
archaic. an apparition.
keep up appearances, to maintain a public impression of decorum, prosperity, etc., despite reverses, unfavorable conditions, etc.:
they tried to keep up appearances after losing all their money.
make an appearance, to come; arrive:
he didn’t make an appearance until after midnight.
put in an appearance, to attend a gathering or meeting, especially for a very short time:
the author put in an appearance at the c-cktail party on her way to dinner.
contemporary examples

conservative columnist reihan salam suggested that gop-backed minimum wage discussions might be feints for appearances only.
to make their victory durable, the gop must fix the minimum wage dmitri mehlhorn november 5, 2014

appearances—as was always the case where the movies were concerned—were deceiving.
the night frank met ava james kaplan november 11, 2010

before his death, dominick dunne made a number of appearances to promote after the party, a doc-mentary about his life.
after dominick j. j. berzelius november 6, 2008

i was familiar with al from his appearances on the show with his comedy partner, tom davis, and was a huge fan.
my rocky time as a woman writer on ‘snl’ carol leifer april 5, 2014

blankenship told the daily beast he had seen protests outside his appearances dwindle since then.
the disgraced ceo’s playbook benjamin sarlin july 21, 2010

historical examples

“merely for appearances’ sake,” said merryon, with grim irony.
the safety curtain, and other stories ethel m. dell

she clung to appearances with a tenacity that nothing could shake.
the raid from beausejour; and how the carter boys lifted the mortgage charles g. d. roberts

however, here are the first stimulants to self-control in the lessons that taught distrust of appearances.
demonology and devil-lore moncure daniel conway

this is a sort of economy having all the appearances and some of the advantages of prudence.
the secret agent joseph conrad

it had happened during a quite ordinary, to all appearances chaste, contact with a young woman.
married august strindberg

noun
the act or an instance of appearing, as to the eye, before the public, etc
the outward or visible aspect of a person or thing: her appearance was stunning, it has the appearance of powdered graphite
an outward show; pretence: he gave an appearance of working hard
(often pl) one of the outward signs or indications by which a person or thing is -ssessed: first appearances are deceptive
(law)

the formal attendance in court of a party in an action
formal notice that a party or his legal representative intends to maintain or contest the issue: to enter an appearance

(philosophy)

the outward or phenomenal manifestation of things
the world as revealed by the senses, as opposed to its real nature compare reality (sense 4)

keep up appearances, to maintain the public impression of wellbeing or normality
put in an appearance, make an appearance, to come or attend briefly, as out of politeness
to all appearances, to the extent that can easily be judged; apparently
n.

late 14c., “visible state or form, figure; mere show,” from anglo-french apparaunce, old french aparance “appearance, display, pomp” (13c.), from latin apparentia, abstract noun from aparentem, past participle of apparere (see appear). meaning “semblance” is recorded from early 15c.; that of “action of coming into view” is mid-15c. phrase keep up appearances attested from 1760 (save appearances in same sense is 1711).
see:

keep up appearances
put in an appearance