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vanitas

American

[van-i-tahs] / ˈvæn ɪˌtɑs /

noun

a type of still-life painting that flourished in the Netherlands from about 1620 to 1650, conveying a religious message and characterized by objects symbolic of mortality and the meaninglessness of worldly pleasures.

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

The modern vanitas also skewers the superficial and worldly, focusing on darker truths, insidious causes and structural failures.

From Washington Post • Nov. 3, 2022

And she picked up on the morbid side of me — I have a collection of hourglasses and vanitas things with skulls.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 18, 2017

For he was still sore with Lady Oxford's treacheries, and feminine beauty was vanitas vanitatum to him.

From Parson Kelly by Lang, Andrew

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023