vanish
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to disappear from sight, especially quickly; become invisible.
The frost vanished when the sun came out.
- Synonyms:
- evanesce
- Antonyms:
- appear
-
to go away, especially furtively or mysteriously; disappear by quick departure.
The thief vanished in the night.
-
to disappear by ceasing to exist; come to an end.
The pain vanished after he took an aspirin.
-
Mathematics. (of a number, quantity, or function) to become zero.
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
-
to disappear, esp suddenly or mysteriously
-
to cease to exist; fade away
-
maths to become zero
noun
Related Words
See disappear.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of vanish
1275–1325; Middle English vanisshen, vanissen < Middle French evaniss-, long stem of e ( s ) vanir ≪ Latin ex- ex- 1 + vānēscere to pass away, equivalent to vān ( us ) vain + -ēscere inchoative suffix
Explanation
A car driving into the distance, a member of a near-extinct species, or that last piece of pecan pie in the refrigerator — any of these things is likely to vanish soon, meaning "to disappear." The word vanish entered English by way of French, but it can be traced back to the Latin word evanescere, meaning to “die away” or “to dissipate.” The word covers all kinds of disappearing acts, from the disappearance of an object or a person. You might, for example, vanish from school when the last bell rings on Friday. Things we can't see can also vanish, like the stress that vanishes when your big project is complete.
Vocabulary lists containing vanish
"The Ravine," Vocabulary from the short story
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"The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry
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Nobody's Home: Synonyms For "Absent"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Another surprising result was the discovery that small pockets of CDW order can persist even above the transition temperature, where long-range order is typically expected to vanish.
From Science Daily • Apr. 28, 2026
Like so many other relics of the Soviet past in Central Asia, it is doomed to vanish amid a distancing from Russia and a top-down drive to boost national culture.
From Barron's • Apr. 24, 2026
Ghost preparers can take a fee or a cut of a refund and then vanish.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 9, 2026
But if her firing says anything, it may be less about why she lost the job — and more about how quickly the trappings of power can vanish once she did.
From Salon • Apr. 4, 2026
She’d win, and serve the king, and then vanish into nothing, and think no more of castles or kings or assassins.
From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
