disappear

verb

Saydis-uh-PEER/dɪsəˈpɪɹ/UK/dɪsəˈpɪə/

Formsdisappears, disappearing, disappeared

4 meanings of disappear

1
verbintransitive
To stop being seen all at once.
Like a soap bubble that suddenly pops and is gone.
The ship slowly disappeared into the fog.
Watch how quickly these footprints disappear in the rain.
Similarvanish, dematerialize
Oppositeappear
Note
2
verbintransitive
To go away or get lost so it cannot be found.
Like money that slips away little by little until none is left.
My keys disappear every time I'm in a hurry.
All the cookies disappeared before lunch.
Similarvanish, evaporate, fade, dissipate
Oppositeappear, emerge, materialize
Note
3
verbintransitive
To go missing, so that no one knows where you are.
Like someone who walks out the door and is never seen again.
The boy disappeared on his way home from school.
People sometimes disappear and are never found.
Similarvanish
Oppositereappear, resurface, return
4
verbeuphemistictransitive
To secretly take someone away, often for political reasons, so they are never seen again.
The regime disappeared anyone who spoke against it.
Soldiers would disappear protesters during the night.
Similarabduct, eliminate, kidnap, liquidate
Note

Practice

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Origin

From an older English word, made from 'dis-' plus 'appear'. It replaced the old English word 'fordwīnan'.