Ways to say it
| Spanish | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| persona desaparecida | /peɾsona desapaɾeθida/ (Spain, from spelling rules) /peɾsona desapaɾesida/ (Latin America, from spelling rules) |
|
| desaparecido | /desapaɾeˈθido/ /desapaɾeˈsido/ |
masculine |
The phrase is used to describe an individual whose whereabouts or location are unknown.
What does it mean word for word?
The word desaparecida is the feminine singular form of the past participle of the verb desaparecer, meaning 'to disappear'.
Which one should you use?
While persona desaparecida is the standard phrase for a missing person, you can also use the single word desaparecido to refer specifically to a missing man. For groups, use desaparecidos to refer to a group of missing persons that includes at least one male or desaparecidas to refer to a group consisting entirely of females.
How does it change in a sentence?
Because the phrase persona desaparecida uses a feminine noun, the adjective desaparecida must also be in its feminine form. When using the adjective as a noun to describe a person, the form must match the gender and number of the subject: use desaparecido for a male, desaparecidos for a mixed-gender or all-male group and desaparecidas for an all-female group.
How do you pronounce it?
/peɾsona desapaɾeθida/
Did you know?
- In many Latin American contexts, especially regarding political history, the term desaparecidos refers to a specific class of victims of state-sponsored forced disappearances.
- While persona desaparecida describes a missing person, the verb desaparecer can also be used colloquially in some regions to mean that someone has completely ignored or ghosted another person.
- Argentina has a world-famous human rights organization called Las Madres de Plaza de Mayo, who spent decades searching for their desaparecidos during the military dictatorship.
Examples in context
- El Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Historia está buscando a una persona desaparecida desde hace dos semanas.The National Institute of Anthropology and History is searching for a missing person who disappeared two weeks ago.
- Las autoridades han desplegado todos sus esfuerzos para localizar a las personas desaparecidas durante el desastre natural.The authorities have deployed all of their efforts to locate the missing persons during the natural disaster.
- Si encuentras a alguien extraviado en la calle, debes notificarlo a las autoridades de inmediato.If you find a missing person on the street, you should immediately notify the authorities.
- La policía busca a la persona desaparecida.The police are looking for the missing person.
- Hay una persona desaparecida en este pueblo.There is a missing person in this town.
- El detective investiga el caso de la persona desaparecida.The detective is investigating the case of the missing person.
Example conversation
Alejandro and Elena are watching the news on television.
- AlejandroMira, hay una persona desaparecida en el centro.Look, there is a missing person downtown.
- ElenaEs terrible, espero que la encuentren pronto.That's terrible, I hope they find them soon.
- AlejandroDicen que es una persona desaparecida hace dos días.They say it is a person who has been missing for two days.
- ElenaOjalá la familia reciba buenas noticias.I hope the family receives good news.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “missing person” translations and entries desaparecido, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
