disappear
Americanverb (used without object)
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to cease to be seen; vanish from sight.
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to cease to exist or be known; pass away; end gradually.
One by one the symptoms disappeared.
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(of a person) to vanish under suspicious circumstances.
The dictator's outspoken opponent disappeared that evening, shortly after midnight.
verb (used with object)
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to cause to disappear.
The magician then disappeared the card.
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to kidnap or arrest and then imprison or kill (a political opponent) without due process of law.
verb
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(intr) to cease to be visible; vanish
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(intr) to go away or become lost, esp secretly or without explanation
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(intr) to cease to exist, have effect, or be known; become extinct or lost
the pain has disappeared
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(tr) (esp in South and Central America) to arrest secretly and presumably imprison or kill (a member of an opposing political group)
Synonym Usage
Disappear, fade, vanish suggest that something passes from sight. Disappear is used of whatever suddenly or gradually goes out of sight: We watched him turn down a side street and then disappear. Fade suggests a (complete or partial) disappearance that proceeds gradually and often by means of a blending into something else: Colors in the sky at sunrise quickly fade. Vanish suggests complete, generally rapid, and often mysterious disappearance: A mirage can vanish as suddenly as it appears.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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disappearsimple
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disappearssimple
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have disappearedperfect
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has disappearedperfect
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am disappearingprogressive
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are disappearingprogressive
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is disappearingprogressive
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have been disappearingperfect progressive
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has been disappearingperfect progressive
Past
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disappearedsimple
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had disappearedperfect
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was disappearingprogressive
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were disappearingprogressive
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had been disappearingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of disappear
Explanation
When something disappears, it's gone. To disappear is to vanish, evaporate, or just fade away. The word disappear is made up of dis, meaning "do the opposite of" and appear. So to disappear is to do the opposite of appear. Magicians are experts at making things disappear: one minute the rabbit is here, and the next, it's gone! When you lose something, like one of a pair of socks, you could say it disappeared. Snow disappears as it melts; boiling water disappears as it evaporates. Anything that goes away without leaving a trace has disappeared.
Vocabulary lists containing disappear
"Hitching a Ride"
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Commonly Misspelled Words, List 3
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Let It Be
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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:
The chef said the challenges facing hospitality cannot be solved by short-term measures alone and warned that without wider reform, more independent venues could disappear.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
That work showed that extreme space weather does not slowly disappear as a cycle winds down.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026
It wouldn’t be the first grouping to quietly disappear.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
Wolter, 75, is careful to note he didn’t disappear into the experiment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
So deep that a spacecraft landing upon its surface might sink into it and even disappear?
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
At lunch dockside in Boynton Beach, I see the flop of a manatee’s huge tail as it disappears below the surface.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
The health effects will take longer to measure, but past research offers a clear warning: When coverage disappears, the consequences often appear later in doctors’ offices, emergency rooms and family budgets.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
"The dense forest disappears and becomes more open woodland, with more lakes and more grasslands."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 19, 2026
The longest he disappears for at the championships is 12 hours, said Davis, adding: "It is his playground, I mean, he pretty much fledged here at 18 weeks old."
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
He steps off the porch and disappears into the night.
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
Over many generations, the eyes gradually disappeared because they offered little advantage.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
The Walkman disappeared long ago, but the sturdy, blue 1985 Toyota 4x4 pickup truck can still be found in the Texas Hill Country at Jeff Kent’s 3,000-acre ranch on the outskirts of San Antonio.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: "For too long, governments have stood by while cherished venues have disappeared from our local high streets."
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
The domains of the Ottoman Empire and of the U.S.S.R. may have formally disappeared, but their shadows still fall across their former provinces.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
Her nostrils flared as she smelled me and the fire and when she was ready—perhaps in half an hour but it seemed like much more—she wheeled, flashed her white tail at me, and disappeared.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
Bass herself has also communicated through disappearing messages.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
New research from the University of Adelaide, however, suggests that even the island's largest and deepest lakes may be vulnerable to disappearing under certain climate conditions.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026
Trappings of modern life are disappearing, with routine power outages leaving many Cubans without running water or refrigeration.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Girls leaving school, climbing into the back seats and disappearing.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
Dominican gulls sailed up the black peaks, disappearing into the fog.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
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.
