disappeared

[dis-uh-peerd]

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.

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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of disappeared¹

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

Likewise, a traveler to China’s coastal cities observed: “Ever since the prohibition of maritime trade…all traces of past prosperity have disappeared.”

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Throughout the museum, scholarship was diminished and subtleties disappeared.

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Massive leveraged buyouts all but disappeared after a number of them performed poorly in the wake of the 2008-09 financial crisis.

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Mr Phillips, who disappeared with his children in part due to a custody dispute, evaded capture for nearly four years, despite a nationwide search and multiple sightings.

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The Sea disappeared after the Kakhovka dam was destroyed in June 2023, leading to devastating floods that ruined homes and farmland.

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Related Words

• absent 
• adrift 
• disoriented 
• hidden 
• invisible 
• misplaced www.thesaurus.com
• vanished www.thesaurus.com