vanity

[van-i-tee]

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noun, plural van·i·ties.

excessive pride in one's appearance, qualities, abilities, achievements, etc.; character or quality of being vain; conceit: Failure to be elected was a great blow to his vanity.

an instance or display of this quality or feeling.

something about which one is vain or excessively proud: His good looks are his greatest vanity.

lack of real value; hollowness; worthlessness: the vanity of a selfish life.

something worthless, trivial, or pointless.

vanity case.

dressing table.

a wide, counterlike shelf containing a wash basin, as in the bathroom of a hotel or residence, often equipped with shelves, drawers, etc., underneath.

a cabinet built below or around a bathroom sink, primarily to hide exposed pipes.

compact¹(def 13).

adjective

produced as a showcase for one's own talents, especially as a writer, actor, singer, or composer: surprisingly entertaining for a vanity production.

of, relating to, or issued by a vanity press: a spate of vanity books.

Nearby words

Origin of vanity

1200–50; Middle English vanite < Old French < Latin vānitās, equivalent to vān- (see vain) + -itās- -ity

SYNONYMS FOR vanity

1. egotism, complacency, vainglory, ostentation. See pride. 4. emptiness, sham, unreality, folly, triviality, futility.

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ANTONYMS FOR vanity

1. humility.

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Related formsvan·i·tied, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for vanity

Vicky Ward was a contributing editor to Vanity Fair for 11 years.
I Tried to Warn You About Sleazy Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2003|Vicky Ward|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In a hot-button cover story interview with Vanity Fair, Lawrence explained it best.
Butts, Brawls, and Bill Cosby: The Biggest Celebrity Scandals of 2014 |Kevin Fallon|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Diez said he married the duchess for love, not money.
Adiós to the Diva Duchess|Barbie Latza Nadeau|November 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“What The Little Mermaid Taught Us About Being Grown-Ups,” Vanity Fair commemorated in a GIF-laden post.
When the Religious Right Attacked ‘The Little Mermaid’|Asawin Suebsaeng|November 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Are the guys from Vanity Fair and Time battling it out and trying to get gangster with each other?
It Was All a Dream: Drama, Bullshit, and the Rebirth of The Source Magazine|Alex Suskind|October 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Men go sighing on, drinking their rivers of pleasure and climbing their mountains of vanity.
The Hart and the Water-Brooks;|John R. Macduff
His sincere purpose was, he declared, “to recommend goodness and innocence,” and his obvious aversions are vanity and hypocrisy.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 3|Various
The pomp and vanity of dress was carried by both sexes to extravagance.
The Revolt of The Netherlands, Complete|Friedrich Schiller
It diverged from France to England, and for a while marked the vanity of the small advances in literature of our female coteries.
The History of Chivalry, Volume I (of 2)|Charles Mills
No doubt you are inclined to say that all is vanity and vexation of spirit, but do not do so for He knoweth the way that we take.
Putnam's Phrase Book|Edwin Hamlin Carr

British Dictionary definitions for vanity

vanity

noun plural -ties

the state or quality of being vain; excessive pride or conceit

ostentation occasioned by ambition or pride

an instance of being vain or something about which one is vain

the state or quality of being valueless, futile, or unreal

something that is worthless or useless

NZ short for vanity unit

Word Origin for vanity

C13: from Old French vanité, from Latin vānitās emptiness, from vānus empty

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for vanity

vanity

early 13c., "that which is vain, futile, or worthless," from Old French vanite, from Latin vanitatem (nominative vanitas) "emptiness, foolish pride," from vanus "empty, vain, idle" (see vain). Meaning "self-conceited" is attested from mid-14c. Vanity table is attested from 1936. Vanity Fair is from "Pilgrim's Progress" (1678).

vanity

noun, plural van·i·ties.

adjective

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Nearby words

Origin of vanity

Examples from the Web for vanity

vanity

noun plural -ties

Word Origin for vanity

vanity