What does "vapor" mean?
Cloudy diffused matter such as mist, steam or fumes suspended in the air.
Vapor
/ˈveɪpə/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Cloudy diffused matter such as mist, steam or fumes suspended in the air.
- Grammar: vapor is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: air, airy nothing, amphibian, apparition.
- Useful contrasts: condensate, liquid, solid.
- Usage evidence: Water changes into vapor when it is heated.
How to use "vapor"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "vapor" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "vapor" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "vapor" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "vapor" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "vapor" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "air" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "vapor", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Cloudy diffused matter such as mist, steam or fumes suspended in the air. US, countable, uncountable
"The desert storm was riding in its strength; the travellers lay beneath the mastery of the fell simoom.[…]Drifts of yellow vapour, fiery, parching, stinging, filled the air."
- 2 the process of becoming a vapor wordnet
- 3 The gaseous state of a substance that is normally a solid or liquid. US, countable, uncountable
"Surprisingly, this analysis revealed that acute exposure to solvent vapors at concentrations below those associated with long-term effects appears to increase the risk of a fatal automobile accident. Furthermore, this increase in risk is comparable to the risk of death from leukemia after long-term exposure to benzene, another solvent, which has the well-known property of causing this type of cancer."
- 4 a visible suspension in the air of particles of some substance wordnet
- 5 Something insubstantial, fleeting, or transitory; unreal fancy; vain imagination; idle talk; boasting. US, countable, idiomatic, uncountable
"For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 Any medicinal agent designed for administration in the form of inhaled vapour. US, countable, dated, uncountable
"Sulphurous fumes have also been recommended, as well as diffusing a variety of vapors in the apartment of the patient; on their beneficial or injurious effects we are unable to speak."
- 7 Hypochondria; melancholy; the blues; hysteria, or other nervous disorder. US, archaic, countable, in-plural, uncountable
"Jan 13, 1732, John Arbuthnot, letter to Jonathan Swift He talks me into a fit of vapours twice or thrice a week."
- 8 Wind; flatulence. US, countable, obsolete, uncountable
"The surcharge of the stomack from a gross vapour, and from the poise of some outward weight, are alike"
Verb
- 1 To become vapor; to be emitted or circulated as vapor. US, intransitive
- 2 To turn into vapor. US, transitive
"to vapor away a heated fluid"
- 3 To emit vapor or fumes. US
"Running waters vapour not so much as standing waters."
- 4 To use insubstantial language; to boast or bluster. US, intransitive
"He vapoured, and fretted, and fumed, and trotted up and down, and tried to make himself pleasing in Miss Hollis's big, quiet, grey eyes, and failed."
- 5 To give (someone) the vapors; to depress, to bore. US, transitive
"“I only mean,” cried she, giddily, “that he might have some place a little more pleasant to live in, for really that old moat and draw-bridge are enough to vapour him to death […].”"
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"Water changes into vapor when it is heated."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "vapor"?
Common synonyms include: air, airy nothing, amphibian, apparition, autism, babble.
How do you use "vapor" in a sentence?
Water changes into vapor when it is heated.
How do you pronounce "vapor"?
Pronounced /ˈveɪpə/.
Etymology
From Middle English vapour, from Anglo-Norman vapour, Old French vapor, from Latin vapor (“steam, heat”).