How to pronounce semblance
American English pronunciation
SEM-bluns
- IPA
- /ˈsɛmbləns/
- Syllables
- SEM · bluns (2 syllables, stress on the 1st)
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What semblance means
An outward look of something, often only a faint trace
In a sentence: After an hour of cleaning, the messy kitchen had some semblance of order.
Where it comes from: It comes from Old French, from sembler, meaning to seem or to look like, which goes back to a Latin word meaning similar.
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Compare: semblance and veneer
A veneer is a fake layer that hides something; a semblance is only a faint outward show of something.
See also: veneer
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