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

Tiffanie Barrière, award-winning bartender and educator known as “The Drinking Coach,” says these drinks never disappeared — they were just out of the spotlight.

Read more on Salon

Snapchat’s logo is a ghost and the app distinguished itself from its competitors by giving people a way to share photos and messages that disappeared once someone viewed it.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The opposite flank has disappeared under concrete because real estate speculation is driving many landowners to convert agricultural land into building plots.

Read more on Barron's

There’s a story in Cleo long before she disappeared, you know?

Read more on Salon

"Because such a lot of time has elapsed, the evidence would have disappeared and the possibility of a reinvestigation is impossible."

Read more on BBC

Related Words

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