VANITY • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Vanity

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/vˈænəti/ /vˈænɪti/ Listen

noun

Vanity n. (pl. vanities)

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." "Here I may well show the vanity of that which is reported in the story of Walsingham."

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."

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." "Vanity possesseth many who are desirous to know the certainty of things to come." "(Sin) with vanity had filled 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."

4.

One of the established characters in the old moralities and puppet shows. See Morality, n., 5. "You... take vanity the puppet's part."

5.

Same as dressing table.

6.

A cabinet built around a bathroom sink, usually with a countertop and sometimes drawers.

Synonyms: Egotism; pride; emptiness; worthlessness; self-sufficiency. See Egotism, and Pride.

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Etymology of 'Vanity'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Vanity" Quotes from Famous Books

... our language with at least one word. There is a fair at Ely founded in connexion with the abbey built by St. Etheldreda, and at this fair a famous "fairing" was "St. Audrey's laces." St. Audrey, or Etheldreda, in the days of her youthful vanity was very fond of wearing necklaces and jewels. "St. Audrey's laces" became corrupted into "Tawdry laces"; hence the adjective has come to be applied to all cheap and showy pieces ...

— Vanishing England • P. H. Ditchfield

... round of contradictions, birth and death, peace and war, the former state annihilated by the latter; and by reason of the fixity of these contradictions and the certainty of that annihilation, all human effort is vain, iii. 9. It is all alike vanity—not only the meaner struggles for food and drink and pleasure (ii.) but even the nobler ambitions of the soul, such as its yearning for wisdom and knowledge. Whether we turn to the physical or the moral ...

— Introduction to the Old Testament • John Edgar McFadyen

... lesson thou dost teach me! The life which is, and that which is to come, Suspended hang in such nice equipoise A breath disturbs the balance; and that scale In which we throw our hearts preponderates, And the other, like an empty one, flies up, And is accounted vanity and air! To me the thought of death is terrible, Having such hold on life. To thee it is not So much even as the lifting of a latch; Only a step into the open air Out of a tent already luminous With light that shines through its transparent ...

— The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

... the counsels of fear—of a tame and cowardly spirit. I may rebut that imputation without vanity, by referring to the siege of Ctesiphon and the reduction of Egypt. The generous Zabdas will do me justice—nay, you all will—why am I apprehensive? Bear with me a moment more'—'Say on, say on, noble Otho,' said the Queen, and many ...

— Zenobia - or, The Fall of Palmyra • William Ware

... before them, Aunt Sally," said her mistress in a tone of gentle reproof, "their young hearts are only too ready to be puffed up with vanity and pride. Now what is ...

— Elsie's Motherhood • Martha Finley

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