vanish

verb

van·​ish ˈva-nish 

vanished; vanishing; vanishes

intransitive verb

1

a

: to pass quickly from sight : disappear

b

: to pass completely from existence

2

: to assume the value zero

transitive verb

: to cause to disappear

vanisher noun

Synonyms

• dematerialize
• disappear
• dissolve
• evanesce
• evaporate
• fade
• flee
• fly
• melt
• sink

Examples of vanish in a Sentence

The missing girl vanished without a trace a year ago.

The papers seem to have vanished into thin air.

Dinosaurs vanished from the face of the earth millions of years ago.

Recent Examples on the Web

Differences of race, religion, your truth, my truth—all of that vanishes. —Ian Frazier, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025

Much of that vanished in 2024, with Purdy going 6-9 as a starter. —Jerry McDonald, The Mercury News, 9 Feb. 2025

That story also introduced Packard’s memories of the night his older brother, Nick, vanished after leaving on his snowmobile years earlier. —Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, 9 Feb. 2025

The discovery came as search teams intensify efforts to locate the aircraft, which vanished Thursday while carrying 10 people. —Yaakov Katz, Newsweek, 8 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English vanisshen, borrowed from Anglo-French vaniss- stem of vanir, envanir, esvanir, going back to Vulgar Latin *exvānīre, restructuring of Latin ēvānēscere "to fade away, disappear," from ē- e- entry 1 + vānēscere "to pass from existence," inchoative verb derivative of vānus "empty, lacking content" — more at wane entry 1

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

Phrases Containing vanish

• disappear/vanish into thin air

Kids Definition

vanish

verb

van·​ish ˈvan-ish 

: to pass from sight or existence

vanisher noun