presumed dead
Believed to have perished
Presumed dead describes someone believed to have died when no body has been found or death cannot be confirmed directly.
The phrase appears in legal contexts, where a missing person may be declared presumed dead after a set period, allowing estates to be settled.
It also describes accident or disaster victims whose remains are unrecovered: Three sailors are still presumed dead after the shipwreck.
- death certificateOfficial record of passing
- missing personUnlocated person sought by authorities
- searchAct of seeking
- cold caseUnsolved crime, investigation suspended
- silenceTotal lack of sound
grave · search and rescue · mistaken identity · dramatic irony · limbo · plot twist · soap opera · inheritance · next of kin · circumstantial evidence · wreckage · probate law · debris · wrongful death · reappearance · in absentia · estate settlement · mortality
- missing personsmissing person, disappearance, missing children, missing child, vanished
- war casualtiescasualties, war casualties, killed in action, fallen soldiers, fallen soldier
- presumed deathmissing person, disappearance, death certificate, waiting period
- true crimetrue crime, cold case, crime docs, unsolved mystery, murder mystery
- life statusalive, deceased, living, dying, expired
- Missingmissing, vanished, disappeared, lost, gone
presumed deadpronounced dead
presumed deadalive and well
Existing and healthy
living · survived · safe and sound · alive · rescued
presumed deadaccounted for
Provided explanation or justification
located · found · recovered · identified · case closed