into thin air

English

Etymology

Popularized by Shakespeare, see quotations.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Prepositional phrase

into thin air

1. (idiomatic) Immediately and inexplicably out of sight.

   He seemed to vanish into thin air.

   • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], page 15, column 1:

     Our Reuels now are ended: Theſe our actors, / (As I foretold you) were all Spirits, and / Are melted into Ayre, into thin Ayre, / And like the baſeleſſe fabricke of this viſion

Usage notes

This is normally preceded by vanish or disappear.

Translations

Translations

• German: in Luft (sich in Luft auflösen - to vanish into thin air)
• Polish: jak kamień w wodę

See also

• out of thin air