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 that sense of security is now one play away from vanishing. — Colton Pouncy, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026

Once the surfaces were smoothed, these strong readings vanished, revealing that regions long believed to be fast lanes for ion transport were actually just microscopic valleys on the material’s surface. — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 7 Sep. 2026

The fathers of classmates had vanished — farmers held captive until their family could pay ransom. — Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2026

George Griffin, 63, grew up in Winters, where several generations of his family have lived and where some former Monticello residents moved after the town vanished. — Graham Womack, Sacbee.com, 6 Sep. 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