disappear

verb

dis·​ap·​pear ˌdis-ə-ˈpir 

disappeared; disappearing; disappears

intransitive verb

1

: to pass from view

The moon disappeared behind a cloud.

2

: to cease to be : pass out of existence or notice

dinosaurs disappeared from the earth

My keys seem to have disappeared again.

transitive verb

: to cause (someone or something) to disappear:

a

: to abduct and kill or imprison (someone, such as a political dissident) while withholding information about the person's fate

Her son was disappeared during Argentina's so-called 'Dirty War.'

—Associated Press

Under his repressive regime, tens of thousands of Chileans were "disappeared," tortured and killed; hundreds of thousands were forced into exile.

—Mandalit del Barco

Fearing that he would be kidnapped or "disappeared" in Syria under some false pretext, Mr. Omar made a video, which he posted on YouTube, to establish that he had defected.

—Dan Bilefsky

When early efforts of containment failed, journalists and doctors who spoke out against the threat were disappeared, these sources said.

—Bret Baier and Nick Givas

Orwell's novel was published in 1949 in the wake of World War II, when both fascism and socialism seemed to loom as threats to democracy, and it imagines a secretive regime that surveils its people and polices even their thoughts, disappearing anyone who rebels against the order.

—Jeva Lange

b

: to cause (something) to pass out of existence, possession, or view

VICE has disappeared the post from its Web site.

—Jenna Sauers

The … waitress disappears the debris from the floor …

—Catherine Cleary

After class, while waiting for Halmoni to pick me up, I devoured as many of those rainbow morsels as I could, as if disappearing them might also disappear my shame.

—Jennifer Hope Choi

He shares his opinion that based on his early findings, the bullets didn't come from Locke's gun, which is important because, as Lucca Quinn points out, Peter would have no reason to disappear the evidence if it exonerated Locke.

—Alexis Rhiannon

disappearance

ˌdis-ə-ˈpir-ən(t)s 

noun

Synonyms

• dematerialize
• dissolve
• evanesce
• evaporate
• fade
• flee
• fly
• melt
• sink
• vanish

Examples of disappear in a Sentence

The two men disappeared around the corner.

The dinosaurs disappeared millions of years ago.

These problems won't just disappear by themselves.

He disappeared without a trace two years ago.

The speaker suddenly disappeared just before the beginning of the ceremony.

Recent Examples on the Web

But there are also tremendous opportunities, putting the country on the front line of efforts to document, maintain, and revitalize many of the world’s thousands of languages that are in danger of disappearing and taking with them vast reserves of knowledge and culture. —Ross Perlin, TIME, 29 Apr. 2024

El Niño’s disappearing act doesn’t mean relief from the heat. —Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 29 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Phrases Containing disappear

• disappear/vanish into thin air

Kids Definition

disappear

verb

dis·​ap·​pear ˌdis-ə-ˈpi(ə)r 

1

: to cease to be visible : pass out of sight : vanish

the moon disappeared behind a cloud

2

: to cease to be

the dinosaur disappeared ages ago

disappearance

-ˈpir-ən(t)s 

noun