Link Centre Dictionary

seem

UK/ˈsiːm/ US/ˈsɪi̯m/ very common

verb

1.

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”
Synonyms
2.

seem to be true, probable, or apparent

  • “It seems that he is very gifted”
  • “It appears that the weather in California is very bad”
Synonyms
3.

appear to exist

  • “There seems no reason to go ahead with the project now”
4.

appear to one''s own mind or opinion

  • “I seem to be misunderstood by everyone”
  • “I can”

Origin

From Middle English semen (“to seem, befit, be becoming”), from Old Norse sœma (“to conform to, beseem, befit”), from Proto-Germanic *sōmijaną (“to unite, fit”), from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one; whole”). Cognate with Scots seme (“to be fitting; beseem”), Danish sømme (“to beseem”), Old Swedish søma, Faroese søma (“to be proper”). Related also to Old Norse sómi (“honour”) ( > archaic Danish somme (“decent comportment”)), Old Norse sœmr (“fitting, seemly”), Old English sēman (“to reconcile, bring an agreement”), Old English sōm (“agreement”).

Phrases

  • can't seem

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.