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Definition of "semblance" []

  • An outward or token appearance: "Foolish men mistake transitory semblance for eternal fact” ( Thomas Carlyle). (noun)
  • A representation; a copy. (noun)
  • The barest trace; a modicum: not a semblance of truth to the story. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "semblance" in a sentence
  • "I had laid out like an eight-week to ten-week timeline where we could get the city back in semblance of order."
  • "Sophia, Imperial honors, a stately palace, a numerous household, was liberally bestowed by the piety of her adopted son; on solemn occasions he attended and consulted the widow of his benefactor; but her ambition disdained the vain semblance of royalty, and the respectful appellation of mother served to exasperate, rather than appease, the rage of an injured woman."
  • "(as it is strongly expressed by Tacitus) into a certain semblance of wine, was sufficient for the gross purposes of German debauchery."