vanish

American  

[van-ish] / ˈvæn ɪʃ /

verb (used without object)

1. to disappear from sight, especially quickly; become invisible.

   The frost vanished when the sun came out.

   Synonyms:

   evanesce

   Antonyms:

   appear

2. to go away, especially furtively or mysteriously; disappear by quick departure.

   The thief vanished in the night.

3. to disappear by ceasing to exist; come to an end.

   The pain vanished after he took an aspirin.

4. Mathematics. (of a number, quantity, or function) to become zero.

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verb (used with object)

1. to cause to disappear.

noun

1. Phonetics. the last part of a vowel sound when it differs noticeably in quality from the main sound, as the faint (ē) at the end of the (ā) in the pronunciation of pain.

vanish British  

/ ˈvænɪʃ /

verb

1. to disappear, esp suddenly or mysteriously

2. to cease to exist; fade away

3. maths to become zero

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noun

1. rare phonetics the second and weaker of the two vowels in a falling diphthong

vanish Idioms  

1. see under into thin air.

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Related Words

See disappear.

Other Word Forms

• nonvanishing
  adjective
• outvanish
  verb (used with object)
• unvanishing
  adjective
• vanisher
  noun
• vanishingly
  adverb
• vanishment
  noun

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.

Example Sentences

In these cases, the well known magic numbers vanish, round nuclear shapes break down, and the nucleus can shift into a highly distorted form.

From Science Daily • Mar. 8, 2026

In the worst cases, it gives the audience one last chance to laugh in someone’s face before they vanish into obscurity.

From Salon • Mar. 6, 2026

The market is pricing outcomes that would require these companies to simply vanish, debts unpaid, into the AI-disrupted void.

From Barron's • Feb. 24, 2026

She wants to live where no one knows her, to vanish into the crowd.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 24, 2026

He finishes his cider and finds a bin to discard his cup, though as soon as he places it within the shadowed container it seems to vanish.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

Related Words

• die
• die out
• dissolve
• evaporate
• fade
• melt