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English (US)

Meaning of seem in English

seem
verb [ I + adv/prep, L ]
us
/siːm/ uk
/siːm/
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B1
to give the effect of being; to be judged to be:
He's 16, but he often seems (to be) younger.
The children seemed (as if/as though/like they were) tired.
I suspect his claims are not all they seem - he tends to exaggerate.
Things are seldom as/how/what they seem.
[ + to infinitive ] I seem to know more about him than anyone else.
They seem to be taking a long time to decide.
[ + (that) ] It seems (that) she can't come.
It seems to me (that) (= I think that) he isn't the right person for the job.
formal It would seem (that) no action need be taken.
There seems to have been a mistake - my name isn't on the list.
[ after so ] "There's no reply - they've all gone home." "So it seems."
"Was a decision made?" "It seems not/so."
More examplesFewer examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Seeming and purporting to be
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Grammar

Appear or seem?
We mostly use appear to talk about facts and events. We use seem to talk about facts, but also to talk about personal feelings and ideas. Seem is often used with a noun: …
Seem + to-infinitive
We can use seem with a to-infinitive: …
Seem
Seem means ‘appear in a particular way’. We can use it as a linking verb (like be) or with a to-infinitive. We do not normally use seem in the continuous form: …
Seem as a linking verb
Seem as a linking verb is followed by an adjective or, less commonly, a noun: …
(Definition of seem from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

seem | Intermediate English

seem
verb
us
/sim/
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to appear to be:
[ L ] You seem very quiet today.
[ L ] He’s 16, but he seems younger.
[ L ] The news seemed too good to be true.
[ L ] She didn’t seem (to be) particularly happy.
[ I always + adv/prep ] They seemed like such a nice couple.
[ + to infinitive ] I can’t seem to stay awake.
(Definition of seem from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of seem

seem
A week later, things seems to have slowed.
From TechCrunch
It also helped that the showrunners seemed to like them.
From Gizmodo
Given the size and success of the firm, the starting salary seemed low.
From The Atlantic
At first, the stuff didn't seem to work.
From Huffington Post
For a process that supposedly involves cutting things out, there seems to be an awful lot to take in.
From The Atlantic
He seemed puzzled and the pair walked away.
From Minneapolis Star Tribune
The home had running water, but it seemed none had been used for cleaning.
From The Star-Ledger - NJ.com
The candidate seemed to think better of his words mid-sentence, so the line comes across garbled.
From ThinkProgress
That's what seems to have happened with statins.
From Huffington Post
So it would seem like they do a lot of running.
From Gizmodo
Simply because we seem to have no time for it.
From Fast Company
Thirty six does seem like a whole lot.
From ABC News
It may seem that there are too many choices.
From Chicago Tribune
It just seemed like such a great story to tell.
From New York Daily News
It seems that as more of us became a little heavier, we changed our views.
From NPR
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
What is the pronunciation of seem?
 

Translations of seem

in Chinese (Traditional)
似乎, 仿佛…
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in Chinese (Simplified)
似乎, 仿佛…
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in Spanish
parecer…
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in Portuguese
parecer…
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in more languages
in Marathi
in Japanese
in Turkish
in French
in Catalan
in Dutch
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in Hindi
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in Malay
in German
in Norwegian
in Urdu
in Ukrainian
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in Arabic
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in Indonesian
in Thai
in Vietnamese
in Polish
in Korean
in Italian
वाटणे…
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～のようである, ～のように見える, ～に見（み）える…
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(gibi) görünmek…
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sembler, paraître…
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semblar…
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schijnen…
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இருப்பின் விளைவைக் கொடுக்க, என்று தீர்ப்பளிக்கப்பட வேண்டும்…
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प्रतीत होना, आँका जाना…
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લાગવું…
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virke, synes…
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verka, tyckas…
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kelihatan…
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scheinen…
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se ut til, synes, virke…
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محسوس ہونا, لگنا, نظر آنا…
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здаватися, уявляти…
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అనిపియడం…
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يَبدو…
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মনে হওয়া, বিচারপূর্বক গণ্য হওয়া…
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zdát se, vypadat…
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memberi kesan…
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ดูเหมือนว่า…
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dường như…
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zdawać się, wydawać się…
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-인 듯 보이다…
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sembrare…
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seek
seek someone/something out phrasal verb
seeker
-seeking
seem
seem like an eternity
seem to
seemed
seeming

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