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

Shannon vanished a few days later. —Kristine Phillips, IndyStar, 5 Feb. 2026

In the age of TikTok and endless scroll, fragrance is designed to trend briefly and vanish. —Sudhir Gupta, Rolling Stone, 4 Feb. 2026

Friends Like These, which will premiere March 6 on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+, will examine the case of the West Virginia 16-year-old who vanished from her home in July 2012, prompting a months-long search. —Katie Kilkenny, HollywoodReporter, 4 Feb. 2026

But many of those have also vanished from public view. —New York Times, 3 Feb. 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