missing in action

adjective

: missing and unable to be confirmed as captured or killed following military action

a soldier who was declared missing in action

The 1st Cavalry Division casualties in Operation PERSHING totalled 852 troopers killed in action, 22 missing in action, 286 killed in noncombat circumstances …

—Shelby L. Stanton

—often used figuratively for someone or something notably or unexpectedly missing, absent, or inactive

Most readers expect an encyclopedia to give the judgment of scholars—a group largely missing in action here.

—Julia Vitullo-Martin

The movie itself has just resurfaced after having been missing in action for some time.

—Video Review

But lots of hair had turned gray (my own included); lots more was missing in action.

—Joseph Epstein

Examples of missing in action in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Walker lamented that because he was considered missing in action, his name was absent from the many official monuments memorializing those killed during World War II. —Giuseppe Ricapito, The Mercury News, 18 Mar. 2024

The event honors veterans of the Vietnam War, including personnel held as prisoners of war, or listed as missing in action, and their families. —Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Mar. 2024

The black and yellow flag is reminiscent of America's prisoners of war and those missing in action (POW/MIA) flag. —Camilla Schick, CBS News, 8 Mar. 2024

In the psychological family melodrama Brothers, Gyllenhaal plays Tommy, an ex-con who takes care of his sister-in-law Grace (Natalie Portman) after his brother Sam (Tobey Maguire) goes missing in action in Afghanistan. —Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 29 Feb. 2024

Those srirachas included many created by supermarket chains, a few imported from Thailand and elsewhere in Asia, stylish upstart brands such as Yellowbird, and small-batch artisanal outfits—all competing for consumers’ attention with Huy Fong’s sriracha missing in action. —Indrani Sen, Fortune, 11 Feb. 2024

In 1998, President Bill Clinton named General Lajoie head of a joint commission with the Russians to look for American soldiers missing in action on Russian territory, especially those who fought in World War II. —Clay Risen, New York Times, 14 Nov. 2023

For at least three days last week, maybe five, the second link in the U.S. military chain of command, the man the president would call to order military action in a crisis, was missing in action with no explanation. —Jamie McIntyre, Washington Examiner, 8 Jan. 2024

Yet the entrepreneur was missing in action on Monday when India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, dispatched a senior member of his government in the midst of religious Diwali festivities to meet with the tycoon at his Fremont factory in California on Monday. —Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 14 Nov. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1808, in the meaning defined above