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
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vanishsimple
-
vanishessimple
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have vanishedperfect
-
has vanishedperfect
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am vanishingprogressive
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are vanishingprogressive
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is vanishingprogressive
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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:
Some CEOs are using AI tools to trim their workforces and predicting that white collar jobs will vanish.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
For a few hours, fear did not vanish.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
They had co-ordinated an extensive trip with another father-son duo, only for the tickets to vanish on match day.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
But as younger Taiwanese largely opt for city life over the island's remote northeast, she fears this tradition could vanish when her generation of "hainu", or "sea women", are no longer able to carry on.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
Suddenly the color and the smile vanish from Michah's face.
From "What the Night Sings" by Vesper Stamper
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
If a black hole never fully vanishes, the next question is obvious: what happens to the information it contains?
From Science Daily ● Jul. 5, 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
That doubt usually vanishes once it becomes a “he said, they said” case.
From Slate ● Apr. 22, 2026
But the Bigfoot feeling vanishes as soon as I get to school on Friday.
From "Leah on the Offbeat" by Becky Albertalli
This allowed the scientists to estimate when various forms of sperm cooperation appeared and how frequently they vanished or returned.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026
The investors whose SpaceX shares vanished before they could cash in.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026
It may seem that this happened months ago—not just four days ago, as I write this—because the deal has vanished from the headlines.
From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2026
Nancy Guthrie, who was taking daily medication, vanished after relatives dropped her off at her home on the evening of Saturday 31 January.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
It definitely wasn’t what had happened, because a moment later, after taking one satisfied bite of the shawarma, the ghost settled back on the bench and then vanished entirely.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
But by November 2025, the home had once again been removed from the market, only to reappear in March 2026 for $2.3 million, where it remained for just a matter of weeks before vanishing.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
On cue he strolled into shot and planted a jokey kiss on his cheek before vanishing.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
This time, it’s four episodes devoted to two outrages, the first of which involves the vanishing of what has become conventional forensic evidence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
The 57-year-old New Jersey Republican last cast a vote in the House on March 5 before vanishing from Washington, D.C., and his home district for over 100 days.
From Salon ● Jul. 2, 2026
As she worked, Elizebeth had to come to terms with the fact that her own vital role in wartime code breaking was vanishing from sight, too.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
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.
