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💥 To destroy completely 💨 To turn to gas 🫥 To disappear fast
to vaporize

to vaporize

4 5.6
To disappear or fall very quickly, for example when money loses value
  • verb
  • /ˈveɪpəˌraɪz/
  • Informal
translation icon : esfumarse
  • In a matter of days, his investment had vaporized, leaving him with nothing.
  • vaporized in a few

But so we're vaporizing our social structures.

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Examples

  • Exports to and imports from Jordan pretty much vaporized for 1980-1983.

    Academic text (1999)

  • In this economy, that's enough to vaporize a marriage.

    Aloha (2015)

  • It's a matter of $20 million being vaporized.

    The 51st State (2001)

  • Everyone panics that money is now vaporized like that.

  • It is as if everyone had vaporized instantaneously.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • However, due process appears to have been vaporized in the same moment—something many U.S. citizens may come to miss.

    Blog text (31)

  • Aerial photographs were the first to confirm that the entire rear wall of the Orthodox church had vanished—not burned out or bombed, but simply vaporized, leaving no debris behind, not even ashes.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Many companies saw their stock values vaporize dramatically during the economic downturn.

  • As the market crashed, billions of dollars in wealth vaporized overnight.

Synonyms

to disappear
vsto vaporize
∞ 1.0

To stop being seen or to no longer be there

means a fast decrease in amount or value rather than neutral nonexistence
to go away
vsto vaporize
463 1.0

To stop being seen or felt

signifies a rapid reduction in quantity or value rather than slow unnoticeability
to vanish
vsto vaporize
421 3.0

Disappear suddenly and completely for no clear reason

is about a rapid loss in amount or value rather than mysterious disappearance
to dissipate
vsto vaporize
48 6.8

To make something spread out and disappear, for example fog or tension

refers to a quick fall in quantity or value rather than gradual dispersal
to dissolve
vsto vaporize
43 3.9

To slowly disappear or become less clear

describes a sudden decrease in amount or value rather than slow fading
to evaporate
vsto vaporize
38 4.1

Gradually become less strong until a feeling is gone

means a swift drop in amount or value rather than gradual weakening
to go up in smoke
vsto vaporize
  • Informal
18 5.5

Plans or hopes suddenly fail and disappear for good

describes a quick drop in quantity or value rather than complete failure
to dematerialize
vsto vaporize
  • US
5 9.6

Disappear from sight and stop having a physical form

focuses on fast loss in amount or value rather than loss of physical form
to evap
vsto vaporize
  • Informal
9.2

To change from a liquid into a gas and disappear

concerns a rapid fall in quantity or value not a physical phase change

Antonyms

to appear
873 1.0

To come into view or become visible

How Quickly

to plummet
93 5.8
to vaporize
  • Informal
4 5.6
to drop
∞ 1.0
fall
191 1.0

Surface Forms

vaporize infinitive
vaporized past
vaporised past
vaporized past participle
vaporised past participle
vaporizing present participle
vaporising present participle
vaporises third person singular
vaporizes third person singular

Morphology

vaporize = vapor (semi-transparent) = vapor + ize

The colloquial sense 'disappear or decrease rapidly' is a figurative extension of the literal sense and so is partially but not fully predictable.

Etymology

Vaporize can also be used informally, and a helpful way to remember this is to think of money or plans 'evaporating' like 'steam' from the root vapor. So when things 'vaporize' they disappear or fall away very quickly.