Words / B1

dis-uh-PEER/ˌdɪsəˈpɪə/

To disappear is to become impossible to see or find, or to stop existing: funding may disappear; the file disappeared. Vanish is stronger and more sudden. Appearance is not a simple opposite. Do not write “disappear someone” in everyday English (that is a rare political sense). Budgets: a line of funding disappears.

Meaning

To become impossible to see or find; also to stop existing.

Examples

• “Funding for the youth club may disappear in the next budget.”
• “The witness disappeared before the trial, which is the “cannot be found” sense.”

Good to know

disappear from; funding / a file disappears. Stronger: vanish. Not usually a transitive verb in exams. Related: appearance (not a clean opposite).

Near in meaning

vanish

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