vanish
Americanverb (used without object)
-
vanishes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
vanished,
past participle, past
-
vanishing
present participle
-
to disappear from sight, especially quickly; become invisible.
The frost vanished when the sun came out.
- Synonyms:
- evanesce
- Antonyms:
- appear
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to go away, especially furtively or mysteriously; disappear by quick departure.
The thief vanished in the night.
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to disappear by ceasing to exist; come to an end.
The pain vanished after he took an aspirin.
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Mathematics. (of a number, quantity, or function) to become zero.
verb (used with object)
-
vanishes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
vanished,
past participle, past
-
vanishing
present participle
noun
verb
-
to disappear, esp suddenly or mysteriously
-
to cease to exist; fade away
-
maths to become zero
noun
Synonym Usage
See disappear.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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vanishernoun
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vanishmentnoun
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outvanishverb (used with object)
-
nonvanishingadjective
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unvanishingadjective
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vanishinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
vanishsimple
-
vanishessimple
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have vanishedperfect
-
has vanishedperfect
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am vanishingprogressive
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are vanishingprogressive
-
is vanishingprogressive
-
have been vanishingperfect progressive
-
has been vanishingperfect progressive
Past
-
vanishedsimple
-
had vanishedperfect
-
was vanishingprogressive
-
were vanishingprogressive
-
had been vanishingperfect progressive
Future
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.
See Examples For:
These flashes can vanish in less than two seconds.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 30, 2026
But extend that same stock picker’s holding period to three or 10 years, and those excess returns vanish.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
In my decades as a cultural anthropologist studying authoritarianism in Russia and the United States, I’ve learned that one of power’s most useful tricks is making responsibility vanish.
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026
But it didn't expect the cans to vanish permanently.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
Funny, easygoing Allun the baker was going to vanish with the others into the secret maze of cliffs and forests that rose above them.
From "Rowan of Rin" by Emily Rodda
Roll the account into an IRA and the exception vanishes permanently.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026
Companies need to ask themselves what happens if their AI supplier vanishes or is ordered to cut off service.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Once these materials drop below a critical temperature, their electrical resistance suddenly vanishes.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 27, 2026
Right now, when you play Gkolomeev’s “world-record” video on YouTube, a medical-risk warning appears for barely five seconds — then vanishes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2026
My heart races at the thought of being able to run again, and my moment of doubt vanishes.
From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen
But the Rams’ 16-0 halftime lead literally vanished into thin air.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
Ship records prove they arrived, but after that they vanished.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
Almost entire glaciers have vanished within a human lifetime.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
Plague is no longer a major public health threat in Europe, but Yersinia pestis has not vanished from the world.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
But within a few days, the Fox story vanished.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
The demolition has begun at Bengaluru's Urvashi Cinema, once a 1,200-seat movie palace where generations of filmgoers cheered and whistled, another casualty of India's vanishing single-screen era.
From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026
In honor of Slate’s 30th anniversary, Luke waded into the comments section and discovered tales of love, loss, and a vanishing form of online community.
From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2026
"We hope that by putting this extraordinary bird into millions of pockets and purses, we can spark a nationwide conversation about a species at real risk of vanishing from Britain forever."
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has captured a remarkable celestial sight: Earth briefly vanishing behind Phobos in the evening sky of Mars.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 13, 2026
The vanishing point of the diagonals formed by the top of the mirror and the right side of the table lies at the juncture of the woman’s little finger and the picture frame.
From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson
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.
