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

A reward has also been offered for information in the case of Teresa Madrigal, a Riverside County resident whose body was recovered in San Diego County after she disappeared during a 1999 shopping trip.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 25, 2026

Its skull shows that these early snakes still had a cheekbone, also called the jugal bone, a feature that has almost completely disappeared in living snakes.

From Science Daily • Apr. 24, 2026

The trouble is that Hainan’s old weakness has not disappeared just because its new blueprint sounds bolder.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 23, 2026

An American court can order their return, but as a practical matter, these human beings have essentially been disappeared.

From Salon • Apr. 21, 2026

Then even that disappeared as he went under again.

From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver

Related Words

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