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to resemble

to resemble

274 2.0
To be like another person or thing
  • verb
  • /rɪˈzɛmbl/
translation icon : parecerse a
  • The puppy resembles its mother, with the same fur pattern and playful nature.
  • closely resemble
  • in many ways resemble
  • more closely resemble

It could never resemble these other societies, right?

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Examples

  • And like Japan, both are beginning to resemble economies that have lost their daring.

    Academic text (2011)
  • But it certainly resembles the drawing that I began with.

  • And I would expect it to resemble life on Earth in many ways.

  • So now what would resemble these the most?

  • So that law says that the sample values resemble population values.

  • Make the learning experience resemble the actual application as closely as possible.

    Academic text (2011)
  • They both resemble the dog in the photo.

  • But nowadays, thank goodness, it resembles something closer to, shall we say, a democracy.

  • Furthermore, the profiles of the individual clusters closely resembled those of past studies.

    Academic text (1999)
  • As a result, the Catholic Church in eastern South Dakota has increasingly come to resemble sectarian Protestant churches.

    Academic text (2011)

Synonyms

to look like
vsto resemble
1.3

To have a similar appearance to someone or something

is broader, covering appearance and other types of similarity
to match
vsto resemble
841 1.0

To be the same color or style as something else

is broader, applying to any simple similarity not requiring equality
to correspond
vsto resemble
68 3.8

Be similar to something in meaning, amount or place

is broader, focusing on equivalence in role or measurement rather than simple likeness
to take after
vsto resemble
33 3.1

Look or behave like an older family member

is general similarity not limited to family connections

Antonyms

152 2.6

To be different from another person or thing in some way

Idioms

9.9

A joking way to say a comment applies to you

How Similar

to match
841 1.0
to resemble
274 2.0
to differ
152 2.6

Surface Forms

resemble infinitive
resembled past
resembled past participle
resembling present participle
resembles third person singular

Morphology

resemble = semblance (semi-transparent) = re + semble

The verb is related in meaning to the noun 'semblance' (appearance), but 're-' here is not the productive 'again' prefix in modern English and 'semble' is not a standalone English word, so the relation is not fully transparent for learners.

Etymology

Resemble comes from Old French parts re- and sembler, where sembler comes from a root that means 'to be like' and is the same root as similar. So to resemble someone or something is to 'be like' them or to look similar.