MEANING
To disappear from view or stop existing, especially in a sudden or surprising way.
Use it for
showing a person disappearing unexpectedly; describing a smile abruptly leaving a face; portraying a familiar world ceasing to exist; contrasting sudden disappearance with gradual fadingMakes an absence feel sudden, complete, or surprising rather than merely describing a slow decline. Writing functions: Transience / Impermanence.
Words that belong together
- vanish from sight
- vanish without a trace
- hopes vanish
On the page
The figure vanished when she turned on the landing light.
With the sale of the house, the last possibility of returning vanished.
Word forms
- Base
- vanish
- Past tense
- vanished
- Past participle
- vanished
- Present participle
- vanishing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- vanish
- Present continuous
- am/is/are vanishing
- Present perfect
- have/has vanished
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been vanishing
- Past
- vanished
- Past continuous
- was/were vanishing
- Past perfect
- had vanished
- Past perfect continuous
- had been vanishing
- Future
- will vanish
- Future continuous
- will be vanishing
- Future perfect
- will have vanished
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been vanishing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Intransitive verb: vanish, vanishes, vanished, vanished, vanishing. Something vanishes from sight or vanishes into a place. Do not normally use a direct object; make something vanish rather than vanish it in ordinary prose. Register: neutral. Commonness: common (dictionary-informed qualitative editorial estimate; not a measured frequency).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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