disappearance
Americannoun
-
disappearances
plural
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of disappearance
Explanation
A disappearance occurs when something vanishes from sight. The disappearance of the stars behind the clouds makes it a bad night for watching a meteor shower. While this word is often used when something's not visible, you can also use it for something that dies out or ceases to exist, like the disappearance of a particular animal species that's gone extinct or even disappearance of cursive writing in schools. In news stories, the word frequently refers to a crime involving a missing person: "The disappearance of his neighbor was very mysterious."
Vocabulary lists containing disappearance
Buzzwords for National Honey Bee Day
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Week 3: Investigations
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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:
Over the next three months, Valerie, Hannah Critchfield and I peeled back every layer of Nancy’s disappearance, uncovering a trail of bad breaks and tragic missteps.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Bahadur Panta, Purja's school friend, said he had prayed for the mountaineer through "sleepless nights" after news broke of his disappearance.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
Marking six months since her mother’s disappearance, Savannah Guthrie shared an emotional public appeal, calling the anniversary “an agony beyond words” and urging anyone with information to help investigators.
From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2026
US television star journalist Savannah Guthrie made an emotional appeal Saturday for anyone with information about her mother's disappearance to come forward, saying "we are begging for help" six months after the kidnapping took place.
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
Surely one of that gaggle of karaoke-loving girls had reported her disappearance, or someone in that immersive theater class of hers, or a professor.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
There have been several disappearances and deaths in water during this summer's hot weather.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
Mahrang warned that enforced disappearances fuelled more resistance, rather than silencing it.
From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum has focused on distinguishing between disappearances committed by organized crime and those forced by state agents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
One was former Amnesty International and UN researcher Madeleine Penman, who investigated disappearances in Tamaulipas between 2015 and 2019.
From Barron's ● May 14, 2026
Their disappearances were phenomenons that happened every time Hyacinth gave Franz a bath.
From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser
Definitions 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.
