evanesce

[ ev-uh-nes, ev-uh-nes ]

verb (used without object)

, ev·a·nesced, ev·a·nesc·ing.

1. to disappear gradually; vanish; fade away.

evanesce

/ ˌɛvəˈnɛs /

verb

1. intr (of smoke, mist, etc) to fade gradually from sight; vanish

Other Words From

• eva·nesci·ble adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of evanesce¹

First recorded in 1815–25; from Latin ēvānēscere “to disappear, vanish”; vanish

Word History and Origins

Origin of evanesce¹

C19: from Latin ēvānēscere to disappear; see vanish

Example Sentences

These feature watery pools of color that seem to evanesce into nothing, topped by the hard geometries of Gray’s rug patterns, which are rendered in hand-stitched embroidery.

From Los Angeles Times

His later “wedge” sculptures, slender prisms of color that can reach heights of 8 feet, seemed to evanesce into transparent nothingness at the top.

From Los Angeles Times

In the handful of works by Vuillard, both the abstract patterning and the absence of modeling cause the borders between the picture’s separate elements to evanesce.

From Washington Post

Grapple with it, and it evanesces like smoke clutched in a mailed fist.

From New York Times

It was as if Buddhism evanesced the same way that its master teacher did.

From The New Yorker