disappear

[ dis-uh-peer ]

verb (used without object)

1. to cease to be seen; vanish from sight.
2. to cease to exist or be known; pass away; end gradually:

   One by one the symptoms disappeared.

3. (of a person) to vanish under suspicious circumstances:

   The dictator's outspoken opponent disappeared that evening, shortly after midnight.

verb (used with object)

1. to cause to disappear:

   The magician then disappeared the card.

2. to kidnap or arrest and then imprison or kill (a political opponent) without due process of law.

disappear

/ ˌdɪsəˈpɪə /

verb

1. intr to cease to be visible; vanish
2. intr to go away or become lost, esp secretly or without explanation
3. intr to cease to exist, have effect, or be known; become extinct or lost

   the pain has disappeared

4. tr (esp in South and Central America) to arrest secretly and presumably imprison or kill (a member of an opposing political group)

Derived Forms

• ˌdisapˈpearance, noun

Other Words From

• non·dis·ap·pear·ing adjective
• un·dis·ap·pear·ing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of disappear¹

First recorded in 1520–30; dis- ¹ + appear

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

“If this was to disappear ... L.A. would be a very sad place to live,” Carroll said.

From Los Angeles Times

D’Hérelle, who had been poised to live and work in Georgia, then disappears from her narrative too; he died, largely forgotten, of cancer, in Paris in 1949.

From Salon

“This is the happiest moment of her life, and she needs to feel all the things that she carries with her throughout her life, that we all do, just disappear.”

From Los Angeles Times

"We often get partners at odds with each other because men have disappeared up the aisle and are buying things they maybe already have," he told the BBC.

From BBC

Around 5 p.m., as the light disappeared and the air grew chilly, Jovita Bautista, 50, stayed at her post at the check-in desk outside KIWA, where she had been stationed since 8 a.m.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• abandon
• depart
• die
• die out
• dissipate
• dissolve
• escape
• evaporate
• expire
• fade
• flee
• fly
• go
• leave
• melt
• perish
• recede
• retire
• retreat
• sink