vanity
Syllables: van·i·ty/ˈvænɪti//ˈvænəti/
vanity noun: that which is vain, futile, or worthless; that which is of no value, use or profit.
Noun
vanity (countable and uncountable, plural vanities)
- That which is vain, futile, or worthless; that which is of no value, use or profit.
- Then I said in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me and why then was I more wise? Then I said in my heart that this is also vanity. / For there is no more remembrance of the wise than the fool forever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten....1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ecclesiastes 2:15–16
- Excessive pride in or admiration of one's own abilities, appearance, achievements, or possessions.
- To make a man in love with you gives an instant hold on his vanity; and with that, you can do any thing. Vanity is the real lever with which Archimedes said he could move the earth; so, try what you can effect with Sir Robert.1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “A Project”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 224
- It's not vanity, to me, it's my sanity1979, Nile Rodgers, Bernard Edwards, “Lost in Music”, performed by Sister Sledge
- A dressing table used to apply makeup, preen, and coif hair, in which the table is normally quite low and similar to a desk.
- She was sitting in front of her vanity, brushing out her hair.2020, Brit Bennett, The Vanishing Half, Dialogue Books, page 148
- A washbasin installed into a permanently fixed storage unit, used as an item of bathroom furniture.
- Any idea, theory or statement that is without foundation.
- It is a vanity to say that if two stones are dropped from a tower, the heavier will experience the greater acceleration.
- To help the matter, the alchemists call in likewise many vanities out of astrology.1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted...
Proper noun capitalized: Vanity
Vanity
- A female given name.
- But alumni and choir volunteer Vanity Brown says when they returned, Ms. Stevenson was told she wouldn't be allowed in the classroom for at least 120 days.2014 January 31, “Iris Stevenson, Beloved Crenshaw High Teacher, Banned From The Classroom”, in PACE News, page 1
- Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Handling) 3rd Class Vanity Johnson polishes safety light covers aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71).2018 August 16, “(advertisement)”, in The Flagship, page A4
vanity meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
vanity in Hindi
- excessive pride
- घमंड ghamaṇḍ, ग़ुरूर ġurūr
vanity in Tamil
- கர்வம், பகட்டு, போலித்தன்மை, வறட்டுப்பெருமை, வீண்தற்பெருமை, பேத்தல்
vanity in Urdu
- excessive pride
- عُجْب 'ujb, غُرُور ġurūr, گَھمَنْڈ ghamanḍ
vanity in Bengali
- vanity, pride
- মান man
- vanity, arrogance
- মদ mod
More languagesFewer languages
- vanity in Malayalam
- പൊങ്ങച്ചം poṅṅaccaṁ
- vanity in Kannada
- ಹೊಳ್ಳು, ಕೆಲಸಕ್ಕೆ ಬಾರದ, ಗರ್ವ, ದುರಹಂಕಾರ
- vanity in Arabic
- غُرُور ḡurūr
- vanity in Malay
- kesombongan
- vanity in Indonesian
- angkuh
- vanity in Persian
- غُرور ġorur, عُجْب 'ojb
- vanity in Thai
- ทิฐิ tít-tì, มาน maan, ความหยิ่ง kwaam-yìng
- vanity in Vietnamese
- tính hư ảo, cái hư ảo
Examples of vanity in a sentence
- Then I said in my heart that this is also vanity. / For there is no more remembrance of the wise than the fool forever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ecclesiastes 2:15–16:
- Try to second guess what people see / All the time it's just your vanity / No one's impressed and you wonder why / Well it is, it shows in the eyes1981, Ashford & Simpson, “It Shows In the Eyes”, in Performance:
- Social media hasn’t just weaponized our vanity—it’s transformed us from humans into curated digital performances.2024 November 29, Joshua Stylman, How Engineered Dependency Erases Our Autonomy:
Synonyms of vanity
Forms of vanity
| plural | vanities |
|---|
Origin of vanity
From va(i)n + -ity, from Middle English vanite, from Old French vanité, from Latin vānitas, from vānus, whence English vain. Doublet of vanitas.
From vanity.
Words formed from vanity
Phrases with vanity
- vanity boxes
- vanity cards
- vanity cases
- vanity items
- vanity labels
- vanity plates
- vanity tables
- vanity domains
- vanity heights
- vanity numbers
- vanity presses
- vanity surgeries
2 more phrasesFewer phrases
Questions about vanity
- What does vanity mean?
- Vanity means that which is vain, futile, or worthless; that which is of no value, use or profit.
- What is vanity in Hindi?
- Vanity in Hindi is घमंड (ghamaṇḍ), ग़ुरूर (ġurūr). See Vanity meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use vanity in a sentence?
- Then I said in my heart that this is also vanity. / For there is no more remembrance of the wise than the fool forever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten.
- What part of speech is vanity?
- Vanity can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce vanity?
- Vanity is pronounced /ˈvænɪti/ (UK).
- What is the plural of vanity?
- The plural of vanity is vanities.
Words near vanity in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: vanity (page history and authors); Vanity (page history and authors); vanity (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); মদ (Bengali) (page history and authors); vanity (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-vanity.ogg, en-us-vanity.ogg.
Cite this entry: “vanity.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/vanity. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.