An exchange rate is the price tag at a currency shop, and the direction of the quote matters.
01
Go deeper
Appreciation can make imports cheaper in domestic currency while making exports more expensive to foreign buyers, other things equal. Contracts, pricing choices and imported inputs complicate the effects.
02
Make it concrete
Hypothetical illustration. Hypothetically, $1 buys €0.90, then €0.95. The dollar has strengthened against the euro under that quotation.
03
When you read a headline
A nominal exchange rate does not adjust for inflation differences between countries.