disappear
Americanverb (used without object)
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disappears,
present (3rd person singular)
-
disappeared,
past participle, past
-
disappearing
present participle
-
to cease to be seen; vanish from sight.
-
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.
-
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
-
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:
Economic instability, weakened public trust and the costs of war do not disappear when an election ends.
From Salon ● Nov. 5, 2026
As the liver ages, the openings in LSECs gradually become smaller or disappear.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2026
It means inpatient wards could disappear from Welshpool, Machynlleth, Ystradgynlais and Llanidloes, while Llandrindod Wells could also lose its beds under the most extensive option.
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026
After all, the whole point of a complaint is to get off the street someone who is potentially dangerous or likely to disappear.
From Slate ● Nov. 3, 2026
I cried a little when I saw them disappear down the road.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
The beans bring both flavor and fiber, the sausage adds richness and heat, and the spinach practically disappears into the sauce.
From Salon ● Nov. 5, 2026
"Hopefully it rains soon, the fires go out, and the smoke disappears so that activities can return to normal and it’s easier to earn a living again," he said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026
Returning to the theme at that year's end-of-season ATP Finals, Medvedev said any bad blood soon disappears after leaving the court.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
When certain materials are cooled below a specific transition temperature, their electrical resistance disappears.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026
The dog looks back once and then disappears into the tangle of undergrowth.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
“On a typical selloff, retail buy the dip. Today, that bid has effectively disappeared from individual names,” wrote Vanda’s Viraj Patel in commentary shared with MarketWatch.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2026
Critically, these patterns disappeared when women had more comprehensive insurance coverage for infertility treatment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026
The bases seemed all but abandoned, with word among residents that American service members, a common sight in Bahrain, have all but disappeared.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026
The remaining five were not found, leaving their current status uncertain and raising concerns that some may have disappeared from the site entirely.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2026
The stigma certainly hasn’t disappeared, but it’s fading, bit by bit.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
They are disappearing because AI is expensive, and payroll is the one big cost a CEO can cut by Friday.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2026
For nearly 50 years, scientists have struggled to explain why frogs began disappearing from Brazil's Atlantic Forest, one of the world's richest regions for amphibian diversity.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2026
Hart said the number of salons disappearing from high streets was a concern.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
Balesni and Korbak say OpenAI leaders cited their use of disappearing messages as a reason for their terminations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
A carpenter bee buzzes by, disappearing into the awning of the building.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
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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.
