disappeared

American  

[dis-uh-peerd] / ˌdɪs əˈpɪərd /

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.

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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.

Etymology

Origin of disappeared

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

Unlike past Decembers, quietness has fallen over the park, as local and foreign tourists have "disappeared", said T-shirt vendor Run Kea.

From Barron's

The rocks examined there date back to the Upper Cretaceous and capture the final few million years before dinosaurs disappeared.

From Science Daily

"Politics has disappeared lately. So we have to try to get it back on track."

From Barron's

This initiative documents the names and histories of glaciers that have already disappeared, including the Birch and Pizol glaciers.

From Science Daily

The demands of his post-college marketing career meant the DJ dream disappeared for many years.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• absent
• adrift
• disoriented
• hidden
• invisible
• misplaced
• vanished