disappear
Americanverb (used without object)
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disappears,
present (3rd person singular)
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disappeared,
past participle, past
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disappearing
present participle
-
to cease to be seen; vanish from sight.
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to cease to exist or be known; pass away; end gradually.
One by one the symptoms disappeared.
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(of a person) to vanish under suspicious circumstances.
The dictator's outspoken opponent disappeared that evening, shortly after midnight.
verb (used with object)
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disappears,
present (3rd person singular)
-
disappeared,
past participle, past
-
disappearing
present participle
-
to cause to disappear.
The magician then disappeared the card.
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to kidnap or arrest and then imprison or kill (a political opponent) without due process of law.
verb
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(intr) to cease to be visible; vanish
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(intr) to go away or become lost, esp secretly or without explanation
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(intr) to cease to exist, have effect, or be known; become extinct or lost
the pain has disappeared
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(tr) (esp in South and Central America) to arrest secretly and presumably imprison or kill (a member of an opposing political group)
Synonym Usage
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.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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disappearsimple
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disappearssimple
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have disappearedperfect
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has disappearedperfect
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am disappearingprogressive
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are disappearingprogressive
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is disappearingprogressive
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have been disappearingperfect progressive
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has been disappearingperfect progressive
Past
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disappearedsimple
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had disappearedperfect
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was disappearingprogressive
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were disappearingprogressive
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had been disappearingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of disappear
Explanation
When something disappears, it's gone. To disappear is to vanish, evaporate, or just fade away. The word disappear is made up of dis, meaning "do the opposite of" and appear. So to disappear is to do the opposite of appear. Magicians are experts at making things disappear: one minute the rabbit is here, and the next, it's gone! When you lose something, like one of a pair of socks, you could say it disappeared. Snow disappears as it melts; boiling water disappears as it evaporates. Anything that goes away without leaving a trace has disappeared.
Vocabulary lists containing disappear
"Hitching a Ride"
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Commonly Misspelled Words, List 3
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Let It Be
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"Companies disappear in the same way they appear, it's a natural phenomenon," he said breezily.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
I did not choose the safe local team that would have let me disappear into my own living room, which othered me even more.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
The twisty nightmare, told through multiple perspectives, depicts the unraveling of a suburban town after a group of schoolchildren all mysteriously leave their houses at the same time and disappear into the night.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
Characters disappear, or have their attributes and actions assigned to different characters.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026
When they disappear into the main hall, Leo turns to me.
From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila
"MSF's work in Sudan is privately funded. But when funding disappears from other health services, clinics close, patients have fewer places to go, and pressure shifts to the facilities that remain, including ours."
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
As LZ collects additional data, scientists will be able to see whether the statistical significance of the event increases or whether the apparent signal eventually disappears.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026
Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Caitríona Balfe, Kit Connor and Fred Hechinger star as members of a struggling family that begins to unravel after the mother disappears.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
"We work hard and we want to play hard and just enjoy our culture," she explains before she disappears back into the crowd.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
It flashes orange for a moment, then disappears into the flames.
From "Blended" by Sharon M. Draper
The football disappeared at times when placed among the thick grass before the snap.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2026
That’s gone now as those jobs have disappeared and service-sector jobs dominated by women have become the primary field for people without college degrees.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
While for the first six weeks, he was "very responsive", Ingram said he then "disappeared off the face of the earth" with £14,000.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
When the quantum effects were too strong, the fractons disappeared.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 7, 2026
He galloped on and disappeared over the brow of the hill.
From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell
Video from the airport showed the plane landing before disappearing from view, followed by a plume of black smoke.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
The last argument for renting is that you pay only for the hours you use, and those idle hours are disappearing as more of the work runs through AI.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026
Spiegel has said he thinks smartglasses are better than phones, because they allow users to interact with the physical world and remain present rather than disappearing into personal screens.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
The concern in recent months has been Sabalenka's mental focus disappearing in less pressurised situations.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
She then spotted Duane as she was coming down, managing to get in an “Oh!” before disappearing beneath the grass.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
