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

But their cloud nine moment vanishes after Ruby sees James kissing fellow wealthy student Elaine and unaware of what was truly going on. —Lexy Perez, HollywoodReporter, 29 Nov. 2025

Her Facebook page vanished not long after. —Faith Karimi, CNN Money, 29 Nov. 2025

An epidemic sweeping the country’s roadways and causing human trafficking victims to vanish without a trace is being highlighted on the heels of one of the largest child-smuggling busts in United States history. —Julia Bonavita, FOXNews.com, 29 Nov. 2025

When political darkness descended and Sudjojono vanished during the anti-communist purge, Rose faced a world where voices like hers were forced into silence. —Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 28 Nov. 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

Rhymes for vanish

• banish
• clannish
• mannish
• spanish

Kids Definition

vanish

verb

van·​ish ˈvan-ish 

: to pass from sight or existence

vanisher noun