vanishing point
Americannoun
-
a point of disappearance, cessation, or extinction.
His patience had reached the vanishing point.
-
(in the study of perspective in art) that point toward which receding parallel lines appear to converge.
noun
-
the point to which parallel lines appear to converge in the rendering of perspective, usually on the horizon
-
a point in space or time at or beyond which something disappears or ceases to exist
Etymology
Origin of vanishing point
First recorded in 1790–1800
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.
The fixed vanishing point, where all lines of vision converge, corresponds to a viewer standing before the picture, motionless in time and space.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 15, 2023
“Pass-Thru” culminates in his darkest sequence, with Thgil — another of the messianic aliens in which Breen specializes — walking toward the horizon’s vanishing point.
From New York Times • Aug. 7, 2023
“The vanishing point corresponding to parallel lines on the screen, price, and ‘Don’t blame…’ text are inconsistent,” Farid wrote.
From Seattle Times • Jun. 3, 2022
Yet after decades of dominating ideas about how a writer should live and work, Hemingway feels increasingly irrelevant today, his influence diminished to a vanishing point, his reputation corroded by a dated personal mythos.
From Slate • Apr. 5, 2021
Similarly, in Masaccio’s Tribute Money the vanishing point lies behind Christ’s head.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
