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

Drawing on generations of Chinatown family lore and silences, See turns China City’s vanished streets and her ancestors’ immigrant gambles into a historical fiction layered with stories of survival and belonging. —Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2026

His spectral like figure seems to rise from the corpse, approaching the camera’s lens before vanishing. —Maximilíano Durón, ARTnews.com, 11 June 2026

The island eventually vanished back into mist. —C Pam Zhang, Travel + Leisure, 11 June 2026

Images would appear one after another, vague ideas bubbling up before vanishing with a pop. —Literary Hub, 10 June 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