Adjacent Words

Vanity definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

VAN'ITY, n. [L. vanitas, from vanus, vain.]
1. Emptiness; want of substance to satisfy desire; uncertainty; inanity.
Vanity of vanities, said the preacher; all is vanity. Ecclesiastes 1.
2. Fruitless desire or endeavor.
Vanity possesseth many who are desirous to know the certainty of things to come.
3. Trifling labor that produces no good.
4. Emptiness; untruth
Here I may well show the vanity of what is reported in the story of Walsingham.
5. Empty pleasure; vain pursuit; idle show; unsubstantial enjoyment.
Sin with vanity had fill'd the works of men.
Think not when woman's transient breath is fled, that all her vanities at once are dead; succeeding vanities she still regards.
6. Ostentation; arrogance.
7. Inflation of mind upon slight grounds; empty pride, inspired by an overweening conceit of one's personal attainments or decorations. Fops cannot be cured of their vanity.
Vanity is the food of fools.
No man sympathizes with the sorrows of vanity.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: feelings of excessive pride [syn: amour propre, conceit, self-love, vanity]
2: the quality of being valueless or futile; "he rejected the vanities of the world" [syn: vanity, emptiness]
3: the trait of being unduly vain and conceited; false pride [syn: conceit, conceitedness, vanity] [ant: humbleness, humility]
4: low table with mirror or mirrors where one sits while dressing or applying makeup [syn: dressing table, dresser, vanity, toilet table]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun (plural -ties) Etymology: Middle English vanite, from Anglo-French vanité, from Latin vanitat-, vanitas quality of being empty or vain, from vanus empty, vain — more at wane Date: 13th century 1. something that is vain, empty, or valueless 2. the quality or fact of being vain 3. inflated pride in oneself or one's appearance ; conceit 4. a fashionable trifle or knicknack 5. a. compact III,a b. a small case or handbag for toilet articles used by women 6. a. dressing table b. a bathroom cabinet containing a sink and usually having a countertop II. adjective Date: circa 1925 1. of, relating to, or being a work (as a book or recording) whose production cost is paid by the author or artist 2. of, relating to, or being a showcase for a usually famous performer or artist who is often also the project's creator or driving force <write, direct, and star in a vanity film>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. -ies) 1 conceit and desire for admiration of one's personal attainments or attractions. 2 a futility or unsubstantiality (the vanity of human achievement). b an unreal thing. 3 ostentatious display. 4 US a dressing-table. Phrases and idioms: vanity bag (or case) a bag or case carried by a woman and containing a small mirror, make-up, etc. Vanity Fair the world (allegorized in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress) as a scene of vanity. vanity unit a unit consisting of a wash-basin set into a flat top with cupboards beneath. Etymology: ME f. OF vanité f. L vanitas -tatis (as VAIN)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Vanity Van"i*ty, n.; pl. Vanities. [OE. vanite, vanit['e], L. vanitas, fr. vanus empty, vain. See Vain.] 1. The quality or state of being vain; want of substance to satisfy desire; emptiness; unsubstantialness; unrealness; falsity. Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. --Eccl. i. 2. Here I may well show the vanity of that which is reported in the story of Walsingham. --Sir J. Davies. 2. An inflation of mind upon slight grounds; empty pride inspired by an overweening conceit of one's personal attainments or decorations; an excessive desire for notice or approval; pride; ostentation; conceit. The exquisitely sensitive vanity of Garrick was galled. --Macaulay. 3. That which is vain; anything empty, visionary, unreal, or unsubstantial; fruitless desire or effort; trifling labor productive of no good; empty pleasure; vain pursuit; idle show; unsubstantial enjoyment. Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher. --Eccl. i. 2. Vanity possesseth many who are desirous to know the certainty of things to come. --Sir P. Sidney. [Sin] with vanity had filled the works of men. --Milton. Think not, when woman's transient breath is fled, That all her vanities at once are dead; Succeeding vanities she still regards. --Pope. 4. One of the established characters in the old moralities and puppet shows. See Morality, n., 5. You . . . take vanity the puppet's part. --Shak. Syn: Egotism; pride; emptiness; worthlessness; self-sufficiency. See Egotism, and Pride.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If you refer to someone's vanity, you are critical of them because they take great pride in their appearance or abilities. Men who use steroids are motivated by sheer vanity... N-UNCOUNT: also N in pl [disapproval]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Emptiness, hollowness, triviality, worthlessness, futility, unrealness, unsubstantialness, falsity, vanitas vanitatum. 2. Conceit, conceitedness, egotism, self-conceit, self-sufficiency, petty pride, self-complacency, self-approbation, self-admiration. 3. Idle show, vain pursuit, unsubstantial enjoyment, fruitless effort, fruitless desire.

Moby Thesaurus

absurdity, aimlessness, amour propre, arrogance, autotheism, big deal, bluster, boast, boastfulness, boasting, bombast, bootlessness, brag, braggadocio, braggartism, bragging, bravado, cockiness, conceit, conceitedness, egotism, emptiness, face, fanfaronade, fatuity, fecklessness, flimsiness, folly, foolishness, frivolity, frivolousness, fruitlessness, futility, gasconade, gasconism, haughtiness, heroics, hollowness, idleness, impotence, inanity, independence, ineffectiveness, ineffectuality, inefficacy, jactation, jactitation, levity, lightness, meaninglessness, narcissism, nugacity, otiosity, pardonable pride, pointlessness, pride, pridefulness, profitlessness, proudness, purposelessness, purse-pride, rat race, rodomontade, self-admiration, self-conceit, self-confidence, self-consequence, self-esteem, self-importance, self-love, self-reliance, self-respect, self-sufficiency, self-worship, shallowness, side, silliness, slenderness, slightness, stiff-necked pride, stiff-neckedness, superficiality, swagger, the absurd, triflingness, triteness, triviality, trivialness, unproductiveness, unprofitability, unprofitableness, unreality, uselessness, vacuity, vacuousness, vainglory, vainness, valuelessness, vapidity, vaunt, vauntery, vaunting, vicious circle, worthlessness