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

Vanity Fair dubbed her the rare cybernaut who “lands soft-focus photoshoots in niche lifestyle publications.”

From Los Angeles Times

It’s been a wild few weeks for Vanity Fair’s West Coast editor.

From Slate

This September, she was hired at Vanity Fair.

From Slate

Promotion for the book kicked off in earnest this month, with an exclusive and widely mocked excerpt in Vanity Fair that included sensational claims that Nuzzi and RFK Jr. had fallen in love and much more.

From Slate

But the American Canto announcement, along with the recent New York Times and Vanity Fair pieces, nullified that handshake agreement in his eyes.

From Slate