departed
Americanadjective
-
deceased; dead.
-
gone; past.
noun
-
departeds
plural
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of departed
Explanation
Something that's departed is gone, or happened in the distant past. An archaeologist might unearth artifacts from a departed era. Anything that's past or long gone is departed, including a person who has died. When your friend talks about her dear, departed Uncle Bob, you know that Uncle Bob is no longer living. The word has been a euphemism for "dead" since at least the 16th century — the traditional wedding service once read "till death us depart," rather than today's "till death do us part."
Vocabulary lists containing departed
The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora
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Shine On, Luz Véliz!
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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.
“The FAA is aware of and looking into an incident involving a medical helicopter that departed from Catalina Island shortly before a different helicopter that crashed,” the agency said in a statement to The Times.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026
The ship departed from Southern California last November and was rerouted to the Middle East after the U.S. led attacks on Iran in February.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
The toy maker faces a falling stock, a departed CEO, and shareholder activists pushing for a sale.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
Within the S&P 500, 67 leaders departed in 2025, up 29% from 2023, and 36 left in the first half of 2026, corporate-governance software-maker Diligent said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Their first overseas assignment was a big one: The husband-and-wife team departed for Moscow to become Paul Stombaugh's replacement.
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
