vainglory

[veyn-glawr-ee, -glohr-ee, veyn-glawr-ee, -glohr-ee]

noun

1. excessive elation or pride over one's own achievements, abilities, etc.; boastful vanity.

   Antonyms: humility

2. empty pomp or show.

   Synonyms: ostentation

vainglory

/ ˌveɪnˈɡlɔːrɪ /

noun

1. boastfulness or vanity

2. ostentation

Word History and Origins

Origin of vainglory¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English vainglorie, vein glorie, from Old French vaine gloiri, from translation of Latin vāna glōria “empty glory”; ( vain, glory )

Synonym Study

See pride.

Example Sentences

“Vanity, vainglory, dissatisfaction with my work,” he told the court, “and love of an easy life led me to the criminal path.”

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That’s the mantra for wide receivers, a group long known for their vainglory.

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When Williams conducts the “Imperial March,” he can both scare you with the Empire’s fully-operational battle power, as with the Berlin Philharmonic, and mock its vainglory, as with the Vienna Philharmonic.

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Another way to view this, as "The White Lotus" reminds us, is that the show's exhibitions of vainglory and egotism are neither inherently masculine nor feminine.

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Out it all pours: the vainglory, the moral equivocation and especially the furious envy of “Albert bloody Pierrepoint,” the “Number One hangman all them years,” with hundreds more executions to his credit.

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