1. give the impression or sensation of being something or having a particular quality: "Dawn seemed annoyed"
▪ used to make a statement or description of one's thoughts, feelings, or actions less assertive or forceful: "I seem to remember giving you very precise instructions"
▪ be unable to do something, despite having tried: "he couldn't seem to remember his lines"
▪ used to suggest in a cautious, guarded, or polite way that something is true or a fact:"it would seem that he has been fooling us all"
Word OriginMiddle English (also in the sense ‘suit, befit, be appropriate’): from Old Norse sœma ‘to honor’, from sœmr ‘fitting’.