Vanity Fair

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noun

(in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress) a fair that goes on perpetually in the town of Vanity and symbolizes worldly ostentation and frivolity.

(often lowercase) any place or group, as the world or fashionable society, characterized by or displaying a preoccupation with idle pleasures or ostentation.

(italics) a novel (1847–48) by Thackeray.

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Words nearby Vanity Fair

vanitas, vanitory, vanity, vanity bag, vanity case, Vanity Fair, Vanity of vanities; all is vanity, vanity plate, vanity plates, vanity press, vanity publishing

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Vanity Fair in a sentence

Texas flower shop owner Jenny Louise Cudd, who complained to Vanity Fair she was “canceled,” asked the court to allow her to go on vacation to Mexico.
Capitol riot suspect pictured at Pelosi’s desk screams ‘It’s not fair’ in courtroom tantrum|Meryl Kornfield|March 5, 2021|Washington Post
In 2017, in an article titled “Kafka in Vegas,” ProPublica and Vanity Fair investigated Steese’s case and the serial misconduct of the prosecutors who withheld evidence that proved his alibi.
A Las Vegas Judge Approves $1.4 Million Payment to Wrongfully Convicted Man Who Served More Than Two Decades|by Megan Rose|March 2, 2021|ProPublica
In fact, Nasr, 50, assumed she’d reached her final stop as the fashion director of Vanity Fair under another groundbreaking editor, Radhika Jones, who is the first person of color at its helm.
Samira Nasr, a fashion first at Harper’s Bazaar: ‘I just want to bring more people with me to the party’|Robin Givhan|February 19, 2021|Washington Post
The urgency surrounding that question has lessened to an extent, according to Vanity Fair.
How the future of TV was reshaped by 2020|Tim Peterson|December 16, 2020|Digiday

Washington’s first book, “Lot,” his acclaimed 2019 short story collection, was a New York Times Notable Book and on the best-of-the-year lists of Vanity Fair, NPR, and other outlets.
‘Memorial’ is one of the best books of the year|Kathi Wolfe|November 27, 2020|Washington Blade
Even internally in the House, women are not getting their fair shake.
The Unbearable Whiteness of Congress|Dean Obeidallah|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
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
Frustrating as regulars find these fair-weather exercise interlopers, they were also all beginners once, he says.
How to Survive the New Year ‘Gympocalypse’|Tim Teeman|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Perhaps it always seems that way at the time, but surely we face our fair share right now.
In 2015, Let’s Try for More Compassion|Gene Robinson|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
To be fair, no artist had ever been asked to, or could have pulled it off if they had.
Bow Down, Bitches: How Beyoncé Turned an Elevator Brawl Into a Perfect Year|Kevin Fallon|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Greater mischiefs happen often from folly, meanness, and vanity than from the greater sins of avarice and ambition.
Pearls of Thought|Maturin M. Ballou
I, therefore, deliver it as a maxim, that whoever desires the character of a proud man ought to conceal his vanity.
Pearls of Thought|Maturin M. Ballou
Finally, let me ask the general reader to put aside all prejudice, and give both sides a fair hearing.
God and my Neighbour|Robert Blatchford
Grandmamma sits in her quaint arm-chair— Never was lady more sweet and fair!
Boys and Girls Bookshelf; a Practical Plan of Character Building, Volume I (of 17)|Various
He was tall and of familiar figure, and the firelight was playing in the tossed curls of his short, fair hair.
The Bondboy|George W. (George Washington) Ogden

British Dictionary definitions for Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair

noun

(often not capitals) literary the social life of a community, esp of a great city, or the world in general, considered as symbolizing worldly frivolity

Word Origin for Vanity Fair

from Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress

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

Cultural definitions for Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair

(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.