semblance
pronunciation
How to pronounce semblance in British English:
UK [ˈsembləns]
How to pronounce semblance in American English:
US [ˈsɛmbləns]
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- Noun:
- an outward or token appearance or form that is deliberately misleading
- an erroneous mental representation
- picture consisting of a graphic image of a person or thing
Word Origin
- semblance
- semblance: see similar
- semblance (n.)
- c. 1300, "fact of appearing to view," from Old French semblance, from semblant "likeness, appearance," present participle of sembler "to seem, appear," from Latin simulare "to resemble, imitate," from similis "like" (see similar (adj.)). Meaning "person's appearance or demeanor" is attested from c. 1400; that of "false, assumed or deceiving appearance" is from 1590s. Meaning "person or thing that resembles another" is attested from 1510s.
Example
- 1. The church is fighting a desperate battle to retain a semblance of unity .
- 2. A semblance of political co-operation may last only until a second round of local elections on april 24th .
- 3. Though from the outset , central europeans suffered arbitrary expropriations and arrests , initially the soviet authorities sought to create the semblance of national independence and political pluralism .
- 4. On the other hand , it supersedes the one sidedness of the objective world , which is now , on the contrary , estimated as only a mere semblance , a collection of contingencies and shapes at bottom visionary .
- 5. Yet even if the power of mr saleh 's state has seldom extended beyond yemen 's main towns , roads and oilfields , it is remarkable that he has maintained even a semblance of control ( see book review ) .