Vanity Fair

American  

noun

1. (in Bunyan'sPilgrim's Progress ) a fair that goes on perpetually in the town of Vanity and symbolizes worldly ostentation and frivolity.

2. (often lowercase) any place or group, as the world or fashionable society, characterized by or displaying a preoccupation with idle pleasures or ostentation.

3. (italics) a novel (1847–48) by Thackeray.

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Vanity Fair British  

noun

1. literary (often not capitals) the social life of a community, esp of a great city, or the world in general, considered as symbolizing worldly frivolity

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Vanity Fair Cultural  

1. (1847–1848) A novel by the English author William Makepeace Thackeray. The leading character is Becky Sharp, an unscrupulous woman who gains wealth and influence by her cleverness.

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Etymology

Origin of Vanity Fair

from Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress

Example Sentences

L.A. voters have seen the arrival of AI campaign videos, an influx of dark money mailers and national media coverage from US Weekly, Vanity Fair and many other outlets, thanks in large part to Pratt.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 1, 2026

“Our tongue is like a sword,” RZA once told Vanity Fair.

From Salon • May 31, 2026

Vanity Fair dubbed her an “improbable feminist icon.”

From Slate • May 6, 2026

Maureen Orth is a longtime magazine journalist whose work in Vanity Fair tackled the power and privilege of celebrity.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 2, 2026

Peter Maass’s article about Bosnia that we read today in Vanity Fair was like a gun that triggered the lost memory in my mind.

From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers