Standard Lemma guide

disappear

verb · 8 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /dɪsəˈpɪə/
  • General-American: /dɪsəˈpɪɹ/
  • Scotland: /dɪsəˈpiːɹ/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪə(ɹ)
  • CMU ARPABET: D IH2 S AH0 P IH1 R Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: D IH2 S AH0 P IY1 R Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To vanish.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dematerialize, vanish, perish, dissolve

Antonyms: appear

2

verb

Meaning 2

To go missing; to become a missing person.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

Examples

  • Eighteen years after Jaycee Dugard disappeared in 1991, she was found alive in the summer of 2009.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To go away; to become lost.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

To make vanish; especially, to abduct or murder for political reasons.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: euphemistic, often, transitive

Examples

  • The Chinese government is well-known for disappearing particularly vocal political dissidents.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

become less intense and fade away gradually

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • her resistance melted under his charm
  • her hopes evaporated after years of waiting for her fiance

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: melt, evaporate

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: weaken

6

verb

Meaning 6

get lost, as without warning or explanation

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • He disappeared without a trace

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: vanish, go away

Antonyms: appear

Narrower terms: fall off, fall away, fall, die, go, absent, remove, evanesce, fade, blow over, pass off, fleet, pass, wither, skip town, take a powder, die out, die off, desorb

7

verb

Meaning 7

cease to exist

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • An entire civilization vanished

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: vanish

Antonyms: appear

Broader terms: end, stop, finish, terminate, cease

8

verb

Meaning 8

become invisible or unnoticeable

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • The effect vanished when day broke

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: vanish, go away

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: end, stop, finish, terminate, cease

Narrower terms: dematerialize, dematerialise, clear, bob under

History

Etymology

From Middle English disapeeren, equivalent to dis- + appear. Displaced native Old English fordwīnan. Displaced native Old English cwincan, whose causative persists as quench (“put out (fire)”).

Across languages

Translations

203 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: verdwyn — to vanish
  • Aklanon: waea' — to vanish
  • Albanian: zhdukem — to vanish
  • Arabic: اِخْتَفَى (iḵtafā) — to vanish
  • Arabic: اختفى (iḵtafā) — to vanish
  • Armenian: անհետանալ (anhetanal) — to vanish
  • Armenian: կորչել (korčʻel) — to vanish
  • Armenian: չքանալ (čʻkʻanal) — to vanish
  • Azerbaijani: yoxa çıxmaq — to vanish
  • Azerbaijani: yox olmaq — to vanish
  • Basque: desagertu — to vanish
  • Belarusian: зніка́ць (znikácʹ) — to vanish
  • Belarusian: зні́кнуць (zníknucʹ) — to vanish
  • Bengali: অদৃশ্য হত্তয়া (odriśśo hottoẏa) — to vanish
  • Bulgarian: изче́звам (izčézvam) — to vanish
  • Bulgarian: изче́зна (izčézna) — to vanish
  • Burmese: ပျောက် (pyauk) — to vanish
  • Burmese: ပျောက်ကွယ် (pyaukkwai) — to vanish
  • Burmese: ကွယ်ပျောက် (kwai-pyauk) — to vanish
  • Catalan: desaparèixer — to vanish
  • Chinese Cantonese: 唔見 /唔见 (m4 gin3) — to vanish
  • Chinese Cantonese: 消失 (siu1 sat1) — to vanish
  • Chinese Mandarin: 消失 (xiāoshī) — to vanish
  • Choctaw: kʋnia — to vanish
  • Czech: mizet — to vanish
  • Czech: zmizet — to vanish
  • Danish: forsvinde — to vanish
  • Dutch: verdwijnen — to vanish
  • Dutch: verzwinden — to vanish
  • Esperanto: malaperi — to vanish
  • Estonian: kaduma — to vanish
  • Finnish: hävitä — to vanish
  • Finnish: kadota — to vanish
  • French: disparaître — to vanish
  • Galician: desaparecer — to vanish
  • Georgian: გააუჩინარებს (gaaučinarebs) — to vanish
  • German: verschwinden — to vanish
  • German: entschwinden — to vanish
  • Greek: εξαφανίζομαι (exafanízomai) — to vanish
  • Ancient Greek: ἀφανίζομαι (aphanízomai) — to vanish
  • Hawaiian: nalowale — to vanish
  • Hebrew: נֶעֱלַם (ne'elám) — to vanish
  • Hindi: मिटना (miṭnā) — to vanish
  • Hindi: ग़ायब होना (ġāyab honā) — to vanish
  • Hungarian: eltűnik — to vanish
  • Icelandic: hverfa — to vanish
  • Ido: desaparar — to vanish
  • Indonesian: hilang — to vanish
  • Indonesian: menghilang — to vanish
  • Ingrian: hävitä — to vanish
  • Ingrian: hävviissä — to vanish
  • Ingrian: hukkahua — to vanish
  • Italian: sparire — to vanish
  • Italian: scomparire — to vanish
  • Italian: svanire — to vanish
  • Japanese: 消える (kieru) — to vanish
  • Javanese: ngilang — to vanish
  • Kazakh: жоғалу (joğalu) — to vanish
  • Khmer: បាត់ (bat) — to vanish
  • Korean: 사라지다 (sarajida) — to vanish
  • Northern Kurdish: ji ber çavan çûn — to vanish
  • Northern Kurdish: nepeyda bûn — to vanish
  • Kyrgyz: жоголуу (jogoluu) — to vanish
  • Kyrgyz: жок болуу (jok boluu) — to vanish
  • Lao: ສູນ (sūn) — to vanish
  • Lao: ຫາຍ (hāi) — to vanish
  • Lao: ຫາຍໄປ (hāi pai) — to vanish
  • Lao: ສາບສູນ (sāp sūn) — to vanish
  • Lao: ມະຫັບມະຫາຍ (ma hap ma hāi) — to vanish
  • Latin: evanescō — to vanish
  • Latin: vanescō — to vanish
  • Latin: aborior — to vanish
  • Latin: excidō — to vanish
  • Latin: abolescō — to vanish
  • Latin: pereō — to vanish
  • Latvian: izgaist — to vanish
  • Latvian: pazust — to vanish
  • Latvian: zust — to vanish
  • Lithuanian: dingti — to vanish
  • Lithuanian: nykti — to vanish
  • Lithuanian: prapulti — to vanish
  • Macedonian: исчезнува (isčeznuva) — to vanish
  • Macedonian: исчезне (isčezne) — to vanish
  • Malay: hilang — to vanish
  • Malay: menghilang — to vanish
  • Malay: lenyap — to vanish
  • Malayalam: അപ്രത്യക്ഷമാകുക (apratyakṣamākuka) — to vanish
  • Maltese: sparixxa — to vanish
  • Māori: whakanumi — to vanish
  • Māori: nunumi — to vanish
  • Māori: whatungarongaro — to vanish
  • Māori: henumi — to vanish
  • Māori: kekero — to vanish
  • Māori: whakaero — to vanish
  • Māori: ngaropoko — to vanish
  • Māori: ririu — to vanish
  • Mongolian: алга болох — to vanish
  • Mongolian: голрох (golrox) — to vanish
  • Mongolian: арилах (arilax) — to vanish
  • Nepali: बिलाउनु (bilāunu) — to vanish
  • Norman: dispathaître — to vanish
  • Norwegian Bokmål: forsvinne — to vanish
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: forsvinna — to vanish
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: kverva — to vanish
  • Old English: fordwīnan — to vanish
  • Oromo: baduu — to vanish
  • Pashto: تروښېدل (trx̌eḍǝ́l) — to vanish
  • Pashto: نېهامېدل (nehāmedǝ́l) — to vanish
  • Pashto: غايبېدل (ǧāyebedᶕl) — to vanish
  • Persian: ناپدید شدن (nâpadid šodan) — to vanish
  • Persian: گم شدن (gom šodan) — to vanish
  • Piedmontese: svanì — to vanish
  • Polish: znikać — to vanish
  • Polish: zniknąć — to vanish
  • Portuguese: desaparecer — to vanish
  • Portuguese: sumir — to vanish
  • Quechua: chinkarpariy — to vanish
  • Rapa Nui: garo — to vanish
  • Romanian: dispărea — to vanish
  • Romansh: svanir — to vanish
  • Russian: исчеза́ть (isčezátʹ) — to vanish
  • Russian: исче́знуть (isčéznutʹ) — to vanish
  • Russian: пропада́ть (propadátʹ) — to vanish
  • Russian: пропа́сть (propástʹ) — to vanish
  • Sanskrit: नश्यति (naśyati) — to vanish
  • Sardinian: ispàrrere — to vanish
  • Sardinian: isparìre — to vanish
  • Sardinian: iscumpàrrere — to vanish
  • Serbo-Croatian: нѐстајати — to vanish
  • Serbo-Croatian: нѐстати — to vanish
  • Serbo-Croatian: nèstajati — to vanish
  • Serbo-Croatian: nèstati — to vanish
  • Sicilian: spiriri — to vanish
  • Sicilian: scumpàrriri — to vanish
  • Slovak: miznúť — to vanish
  • Slovak: zmiznúť — to vanish
  • Slovene: izginjati — to vanish
  • Slovene: izginiti — to vanish
  • Southern Altai: јоголор (ǰogolor) — to vanish
  • Spanish: desaparecer — to vanish
  • Spanish: desparecer — to vanish
  • Swahili: kutoweka — to vanish
  • Swedish: försvinna — to vanish
  • Tajik: нопадид шудан (nopadid šudan) — to vanish
  • Tajik: гум шудан (gum šudan) — to vanish
  • Tatar: югалырга (yuğalırğa) — to vanish
  • Thai: หาย (hǎai) — to vanish
  • Thai: สูญ (sǔun) — to vanish
  • Thai: หายไป (hǎai-bpai) — to vanish
  • Turkish: gözden kaybolmak — to vanish
  • Turkish: yok olmak — to vanish
  • Ottoman Turkish: ییتمك (yitmek) — to vanish
  • Turkmen: ýok bolmak — to vanish
  • Ukrainian: зника́ти (znykáty) — to vanish
  • Ukrainian: зни́кнути (znýknuty) — to vanish
  • Urdu: گایب ہونا (gāyab honā) — to vanish
  • Uyghur: يوقالماق (yoqalmaq) — to vanish
  • Uzbek: yoʻqolmoq — to vanish
  • Uzbek: yoʻq boʻlmoq — to vanish
  • Vietnamese: biến mất — to vanish
  • Walloon: disparexhe — to vanish
  • Yiddish: נעלם ווערן (nelem vern) — to vanish
  • Yiddish: פֿאַרשווינדן (farshvindn) — to vanish
  • Arabic: أَخْفَى (ʔaḵfā) — to make vanish
  • Armenian: անհետացնել (anhetacʻnel) — to make vanish
  • Chinese Mandarin: 滅絕 /灭绝 (mièjué) — to make vanish
  • Chinese Mandarin: 被失蹤 /被失踪 — to make vanish
  • Chinese Mandarin: 被消失 — to make vanish
  • Czech: zmizet — to make vanish
  • Danish: få til at forsvinde — to make vanish
  • Dutch: laten verdwijnen — to make vanish
  • Esperanto: malaperigi — to make vanish
  • Finnish: hävittää — to make vanish
  • Finnish: kadottaa — to make vanish
  • French: faire disparaître — to make vanish
  • German: zum Verschwinden bringen — to make vanish
  • German: verschwinden lassen — to make vanish
  • Greek: εξαφανίζω (exafanízo) — to make vanish
  • Ancient Greek: ἀφανίζω (aphanízō) — to make vanish
  • Hawaiian: hoʻonalowale — to make vanish
  • Hebrew: הֶעֱלִים (he'elím) — to make vanish
  • Ingrian: hävittää — to make vanish
  • Latin: aborior — to make vanish
  • Latin: vanesco — to make vanish
  • Latin: extiguor — to make vanish
  • Lithuanian: pradanginti — to make vanish
  • Malayalam: അപ്രത്യക്ഷമാക്കുക (apratyakṣamākkuka) — to make vanish
  • Māori: whakangaro — to make vanish
  • Māori: whakahenumi — to make vanish
  • Norwegian Bokmål: få til å forsvinne — to make vanish
  • Norwegian Bokmål: fjerne — to make vanish
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: få til å forsvinna — to make vanish
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: fjerna — to make vanish
  • Polish: porywać (to abduct) — to make vanish
  • Polish: porwać (to abduct) — to make vanish
  • Portuguese: fazer sumir — to make vanish
  • Portuguese: fazer desaparecer — to make vanish
  • Portuguese: sumir com — to make vanish
  • Portuguese: desaparecer com — to make vanish
  • Russian: убира́ть (ubirátʹ) — to make vanish
  • Russian: убра́ть (ubrátʹ) — to make vanish
  • Spanish: desaparecer — to make vanish
  • Spanish: desparecer — to make vanish
Real reading context

disappear in complete knowledge articles