disappearance
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of disappearance
Explanation
A disappearance occurs when something vanishes from sight. The disappearance of the stars behind the clouds makes it a bad night for watching a meteor shower. While this word is often used when something's not visible, you can also use it for something that dies out or ceases to exist, like the disappearance of a particular animal species that's gone extinct or even disappearance of cursive writing in schools. In news stories, the word frequently refers to a crime involving a missing person: "The disappearance of his neighbor was very mysterious."
Vocabulary lists containing disappearance
Buzzwords for National Honey Bee Day
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Week 3: Investigations
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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.
A new study from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is reshaping a decades-old belief about the disappearance of Hawaiʻi's native waterbirds.
From Science Daily • Apr. 14, 2026
She also raised the possibility that her own fame may have been behind her mother's disappearance, saying that thought was too much to bear.
From BBC • Apr. 6, 2026
Savannah Guthrie went back to work behind the “Today” show anchor desk Monday for the first time since the stunning and still unsolved disappearance of her mother eight weeks ago.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 6, 2026
The disappearance was also starting to make local news.
From Slate • Apr. 6, 2026
And he repeated the facts that Rogers had given him about the disappearance of the two little china figures.
From "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie
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.
