Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for missing. Search instead for go+missing.
Synonyms

missing

American  
[mis-ing] / ˈmɪs ɪŋ /

adjective

  1. absent, not found, or lost.

    a missing person.

  2. lacking.

    Something is missing in this relationship.

idioms

  1. go missing, to disappear; become lost.

    My keys have gone missing again.
missing British  
/ ˈmɪsɪŋ /

adjective

  1. not present; absent or lost

  2. not able to be traced and not known to be dead

    nine men were missing after the attack

  3. to become lost or disappear

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of missing

First recorded in 1520–30; miss 1 + -ing 2

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.

The log went missing until last fall, when an officer in a deposition said it had been misplaced in the trunk of his squad car and he returned it.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 2026

He went back to the hotel and reported his girlfriend missing.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 4, 2026

There was confusion over which buttons to press as they wrestled with the mystery of how to reload a SmarTrip card—all of it intensified by the prospect of missing their train.

From Slate • Apr. 4, 2026

If one is missing, the reaction does not begin, and the drug remains inactive.

From Science Daily • Apr. 2, 2026

Glenn was solid soot from horns to hoof, though even in his coal-blasted face, you could see his eyebrows were missing.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

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.