evaporate

evaporate — verb

1. When a liquid turns into a gas, it has evaporated. The sun, heat, or moving air

1.verbtransitive / intransitiveB1
Definition

When a liquid turns into a gas, it has evaporated. The sun, heat, or moving air can make this happen, or the liquid can evaporate by itself.

Example

The water in the metal pot evaporated after Otis left it on the stove.

Morning sun evaporates the dew from the grass within an hour.

present tense for natural process

Common collocations
  • evaporate in the heat
  • evaporate from the surface
  • evaporate into the air
  • evaporate completely
  • boil until the liquid evaporates
Synonyms
  • vaporize

    more technical or rapid; implies turning into gas by intense heat

  • boil off

    informal, specifically by heating to boiling point

  • dry up

    focuses on the result (no liquid left) rather than the process

Antonyms
  • condense

    gas turns back into liquid

  • absorb

    liquid soaks into something rather than rising as gas

Grammar Patterns

liquid + evaporates

heat/sun/wind + evaporates + liquid

evaporate + from + surface

evaporate + into + gas/air

Usage Note

Frequently used intransitively for natural processes. The transitive use (heat evaporates water) is more common in scientific or instructional contexts.

Common Mistakes

The water boiled away on its own at room temperature.
The water evaporated at room temperature.
Boiling requires bubbling at a specific heat; evaporation happens at the surface at any temperature.
The sun boiled the puddle.
The sun evaporated the puddle.
The sun does not boil things; it heats them until the liquid evaporates.

2. When something that is not a liquid — such as a feeling, a hope, a supply of mon

2.verbintransitiveB2
Definition

When something that is not a liquid — such as a feeling, a hope, a supply of money, or public support — slowly becomes less and finally disappears, you can say it evaporates.

Example

Vivek's anger evaporated when his daughter ran over and hugged his legs.

emotions as subject: anger evaporated

All hope for a peaceful solution evaporated after the attack on the village.

Common collocations
  • hope evaporates
  • anger evaporates
  • confidence evaporates
  • savings evaporate
  • support evaporates
  • evaporate overnight
  • evaporate into thin air
Synonyms
  • disappear

    more general; can be sudden or gradual

  • fade

    implies slow, gentle loss; less final than evaporate

  • drain away

    suggests something flowing out steadily

  • melt away

    informal; implies softening and disappearance

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

abstract_noun + evaporates

evaporate + adverb (quickly/slowly/gradually)

evaporate + prepositional_phrase (overnight/in an instant)

Usage Note

Subject is usually an abstract noun such as hope, anger, confidence, support, or savings. Not used for a person or object that suddenly disappears — use vanish or disappear instead.

Common Mistakes

He evaporated from the room before I could say goodbye.
He vanished from the room before I could say goodbye.
Evaporate is not used for a person's sudden physical disappearance.
My phone evaporated from my bag.
My phone disappeared from my bag.
Evaporate describes gradual loss, not theft or misplacement.

Word family

  • evaporation
    nounB2
  • evaporated
    adjectiveB2
  • evaporative
    adjectiveC1
  • evaporator
    nounC1
  • evaporating
    adjectiveB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/2

Evaporate, disappear, vanish, fade, and dissipate all describe something going away, but they differ in speed and imagery. Disappear is the most general word and works in almost any context — something can disappear suddenly or slowly. Vanish suggests a sudden, often mysterious disappearance, as when a magician makes a coin vanish from her hand. Fade describes a slow, gentle loss of color, sound, or intensity: a photograph fades; a memory fades. Dissipate carries the sense of something scattering into parts until nothing remains, like fog dissipating in the morning sun. Evaporate is unique because it draws an analogy with liquid turning to gas — it works best for the gradual loss of abstract things such as hope, anger, or savings, and it implies that something once solid or real becomes nothing at all. For example, 'his patience evaporated after the third delay' sounds natural, but 'his patience vanished' suggests an instant snap, and 'his patience faded' suggests a slow wearing away.

disappear ↗vanish ↗fade ↗dissipate

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • evaporate into thin air
  • evaporate in the heat
  • evaporate under pressure

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Evaporate comes from the Latin word ēvapōrāre, which combines ē- ('out, away') with vapōrāre ('to give off steam'), from vapor ('steam, water vapor'). It entered English through French in the early 1400s with the literal meaning of moisture turning into vapor. Around 1600, English speakers also began using it in a figurative way for things like hopes and feelings disappearing gradually, as if they were steam rising into the air.