vapourware

va·pour·ware
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A form of vaporware — An advertised product, often computer software, the launch of which has not happened yet and might not ever happen.

OriginEnglish softwarebf. ← Middle English ware ← Old English waru →
RareScrabble 18
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Meanings

nounvapourware (uncountable)
  1. UKalternativeuncountableAlternative spelling of vaporware.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
dreamware

Origin

  1. Englishvapour
  2. Proto-West Germanic*samft(ī)
  3. Old Englishsōfte
  4. Middle Englishsofte
  5. Englishsoft
  6. Proto-Germanic*warō
  7. Proto-West Germanic*waru
  8. Old Englishwaru
  9. Middle Englishware
  10. Englishsoftwarebf.
  11. Englishvapourware

From vapour + -ware.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

vapourware. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vapourware

MLA

“vapourware.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vapourware. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “vapourware,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vapourware.

Source: vapourware on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.