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 of vanish

• disappear
• fade

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

No bag will magically vanish Rob Pelton and Jeanelle Soland travel the country with the organization Leave No Trace. —David Wade, CBS News, 15 Jan. 2026

In Yasuj, the resident said police units vanished from the streets after reports of defections. —Kay Armin Serjoie, Time, 14 Jan. 2026

Long before satellites and sonar, entire cities vanished beneath water—some swallowed by earthquakes, others slowly erased by the sea. —Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 14 Jan. 2026

The refrain echoes throughout the remainder of the song, vanishing into smoke. —Literary Hub, 14 Jan. 2026

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

Rhymes for vanish

• banish
• clannish
• mannish
• spanish

Kids Definition

vanish

verb

van·​ish ˈvan-ish 

: to pass from sight or existence

vanisher noun