disappear

[dis-uh-peer]

verb (used without object)

1. to cease to be seen; vanish from sight.

2. to cease to exist or be known; pass away; end gradually.

   One by one the symptoms disappeared.

3. (of a person) to vanish under suspicious circumstances.

   The dictator's outspoken opponent disappeared that evening, shortly after midnight.

verb (used with object)

1. to cause to disappear.

   The magician then disappeared the card.

2. to kidnap or arrest and then imprison or kill (a political opponent) without due process of law.

disappear

/ ˌdɪsəˈpɪə /

verb

1. (intr) to cease to be visible; vanish

2. (intr) to go away or become lost, esp secretly or without explanation

3. (intr) to cease to exist, have effect, or be known; become extinct or lost

   the pain has disappeared

4. (tr) (esp in South and Central America) to arrest secretly and presumably imprison or kill (a member of an opposing political group)

Other Word Forms

• nondisappearing adjective
• undisappearing adjective
• disappearance noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of disappear¹

First recorded in 1520–30; dis- ¹ + appear

Synonym Study

Disappear, fade, vanish suggest that something passes from sight. Disappear is used of whatever suddenly or gradually goes out of sight: We watched him turn down a side street and then disappear. Fade suggests a (complete or partial) disappearance that proceeds gradually and often by means of a blending into something else: Colors in the sky at sunrise quickly fade. Vanish suggests complete, generally rapid, and often mysterious disappearance: A mirage can vanish as suddenly as it appears.

Example Sentences

Her older sister Vicky Hamilton disappeared in 1991, sparking one of the most high profile missing person cases of the decade.

From BBC

A volunteer team using cadaver detection dogs to search for the body of a British child who disappeared in Australia more than 50 years ago has found an "area of interest".

From BBC

Last year, another Uganda opposition figure, Kizza Besigye, mysteriously disappeared in Nairobi only to surface four days later in a military court in Uganda, where he faces treason charges.

From BBC

When she was about 5, she disappeared for hours to a dark henhouse to see how chickens laid eggs, so absorbed that she was oblivious to her family’s frantic search for her.

From Los Angeles Times

On the tables, copies of Ursula and the Image Makers issues were laid out in waves, slowly disappearing as the night continued.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• abandon 
• depart 
• die 
• die out 
• dissipate 
• dissolve 
• escape 
• evaporate 
• expire 
• fade 
• flee 
• fly 
• go 
• leave 
• melt 
• perish 
• recede 
• retire 
• retreat 
• sink