vanitas
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of vanitas
1905–10; Latin: literally, vanity
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Harnett had much simpler taste than his patrons, and while “Ease” is not a vanitas painting auguring death, he was known for incorporating traces of humor and irony in his paintings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025
Yet pronk works carried deeper meanings as the earliest forms of vanitas, a genre that uses symbolism to convey the brevity of life and futility of pleasure.
From Salon ● Mar. 10, 2024
It’s a Conceptual art interpretation of an old vanitas motif in painting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2018
An Italian vanitas bust from the late 17th century.
From New York Times ● Jan. 26, 2012
Only last night he reminded me of an illustration of the vanitas vanitatum of human fame and national gratitude, to be found over yonder in the necropolis.
From At the Mercy of Tiberius by Augusta J. (Augusta Jane) Evans
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
