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MIA

¹ American

plural

MIA's, MIAs

missing in action.
a soldier declared missing in action.

M.I.A. ² American

abbreviation

Master of International Affairs.
Military. missing in action.

MIA British

abbreviation

military missing in action: officially unaccounted for following combat
(in Australia) Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area

"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

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.

As a result, history and original meaning were MIA in a dispute when they should have been front and center.

From Slate • Dec. 11, 2025

There are a few characters out of the Scott drama who are MIA in real time, though we see and hear from them in archival video—Keith Olbermann, for instance, who appeared with Scott on “SportsNight.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 9, 2025

After Saturday’s attempt on his life, Melania felt MIA.

From BBC • Jul. 18, 2024

Feinstein was MIA from the Senate for months this year with a case of shingles; it took the New York Times to report she’d also had encephalitis.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 28, 2023

Some preferred to walk to show their support for the boycott rather than accept a ride even from the MIA car pool.

From "Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice" by Phillip Hoose

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023