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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.

Then after missing two penalties, against Liverpool and Athletic Club, he was feeling really down and thought "I am going to do it my own way".

From BBC • May 6, 2026

What is missing, at scale, is the right kind of conversation.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026

“Non-viewers of CNN are missing a lot. There are so many reasons to watch,” Los Angeles Times critic Howard Rosenberg wrote in 1986, hailing the 6-year-old channel as an “institution.”

From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026

Kudos to A.I. on missing the at-leasting nature of people in its training.

From Slate • May 6, 2026

There was something I was missing, I just knew it, but I couldn’t see what.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff

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.