semblance
- noun
- /ˈsɛmbləns/
- In the days right after their father moved out, whatever semblance of order their lives had collapsed completely.
- a semblance of order
- retain some semblance
- maintain a semblance
Very, very difficult to keep any semblance of family going.
- Very, very difficult to keep any semblance of family going.
- There will be no expectation of any semblance of privacy in my house.
- And so much of toughness is like, do I have some semblance of control over things?
- The Thunderbirds are entitled to wear naval uniforms or semblances of them.
- What could my first step be toward trying to create some semblance of financial freedom for myself?
- Yeah, I'm not going to litter if I think that the ground has some semblance of sacredness.
- And he did so so many times that he came upon some, some semblance of belief.
- But meditation is a practice and you can bring, you can achieve some semblance of that ego free consciousness through meditation.
- Can you imagine an ethical AI without some semblance of, yeah, finitude, let's say?
- I think the main thing for me is to try and keep a semblance of what life is usually like for you as close as you can.
- And my sense is that Israel and the West have come to the table with some semblance of an offer that Hamas has said they're not interested in.
Examples
-
I know he also found time for some semblance of a social life.
Fiction book (1990) -
Some semblance of compassion from you would be helpful!
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Very, very difficult to keep any semblance of family going.
-
With them goes the last semblance of law and order.
-
Music soon became one of the two ways I could enjoy any semblance of freedom.
Fiction book (1993) -
Just please can I have a semblance of privacy on the Internet?
-
The programs can also expand the mind and even provide some semblance of order.
Academic text (1997) -
Please try to maintain a semblance of decorum.
-
The thought brought some semblance of control back to his distraught senses.
Fiction book (1998) -
After the storm passed, the village struggled to regain some semblance of normal life.
Synonyms
A false idea or appearance that makes you think something is true
A way of showing yourself that hides problems to make others think well of you
An appearance that hides the truth to trick people
The appearance of being true or real
Antonyms
How Real
Surface Forms
Morphology
semblance = sembl + ance
Although historically related to 'seem', the stem 'sembl' is not a productive or recognizable English base for learners, so the meaning cannot be derived transparently from its parts.
Etymology
Semblance comes from the old root similis, which means 'like', and you can see the same root in the word similar. So a semblance is an outside appearance that looks 'like' the real thing but may not be true.