disappeared

American  

[dis-uh-peerd] / ˌdɪs əˈpɪərd /

adjective

1. having vanished from sight or existence.

   Right this minute, the only thing I want to do is to find a way to recover my disappeared phone photos.

   The museum displays tools and artifacts from an almost disappeared culture, known only from one archaeological site.

2. (of a person) having vanished under suspicious or unknown circumstances.

   Family members of the disappeared persons were denied the right to any effective remedy, including the right to know the fate of their loved ones.

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noun

(used with a plural verb)

1. none the disappeared people, especially political opponents, who have vanished under suspicious or unknown circumstances, or without due process of law.

   The determination of the parents, grandparents, and—most recently—children of the disappeared is finally putting dictators, torturers, and their accomplices behind bars.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of disappear.

Etymology

Origin of disappeared

First recorded in 1400–50 as a verb: disappear ( def. ) + -ed ¹ ( def. ), and in 1640–50 as an adjective: disappear ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

Since World War Two it has all but disappeared.

From BBC

Waddling at speed, it disappeared into the weeds.

From Literature

Then it hurtled out of the firelight and disappeared.

From Literature

Two of those patients experienced complete remission, meaning their cancers disappeared entirely.

From Science Daily

Regular police have all but disappeared from the streets of Tehran, adding to a sense of general insecurity, residents said.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• absent
• adrift
• disoriented
• hidden
• invisible
• misplaced
• vanished