| / English Dictionary |
VANITY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Low table with mirror or mirrors where one sits while dressing or applying makeup
Synonyms:
dresser; dressing table; toilet table; vanity
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("vanity" is a kind of...):
table (a piece of furniture having a smooth flat top that is usually supported by one or more vertical legs)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The trait of being unduly vain and conceited; false pride
Synonyms:
conceit; conceitedness; vanity
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("vanity" is a kind of...):
trait (a distinguishing feature of your personal nature)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "vanity"):
narcism; narcissism; self-love (an exceptional interest in and admiration for yourself)
boastfulness; vainglory (outspoken conceit)
egotism; self-importance; swelled head (an exaggerated opinion of your own importance)
posturing (adopting a vain conceited posture)
Derivation:
vain (characteristic of false pride; having an exaggerated sense of self-importance)
Sense 3
Meaning:
The quality of being valueless or futile
Example:
he rejected the vanities of the world
Synonyms:
emptiness; vanity
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("vanity" is a kind of...):
ineptitude; worthlessness (having no qualities that would render it valuable or useful)
Derivation:
vain (characteristic of false pride; having an exaggerated sense of self-importance)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Feelings of excessive pride
Synonyms:
amour propre; conceit; self-love; vanity
Classified under:
Nouns denoting feelings and emotions
Hypernyms ("vanity" is a kind of...):
pride; pridefulness (a feeling of self-respect and personal worth)
Derivation:
vain (characteristic of false pride; having an exaggerated sense of self-importance)
Context examples:
Don't think I came here looking for you, Theresa. Your vanity shall not be tickled by any such misapprehension. Our meeting is wholly fortuitous.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
I was not fond of pampering that susceptible vanity of his; but for once, and from motives of expediency, I would e'en soothe and stimulate it.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
The Preacher found life and the works of life all a vanity and vexation, an evil thing; but death, the ceasing to be able to be vain and vexed, he found an eviler thing.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
I made my acknowledgements by prostrating myself at his majesty’s feet: but he commanded me to rise; and after many gracious expressions, which, to avoid the censure of vanity, I shall not repeat, he added, that he hoped I should prove a useful servant, and well deserve all the favours he had already conferred upon me, or might do for the future.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
Vanity working on a weak head, produces every sort of mischief.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
“The miserable vanity of these earth-worms!” she said, when she had so far controlled the angry heavings of her breast, that she could trust herself to speak.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
So you may think what a blow it was to all her vanity and pride.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
What will you think of my vanity?
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
In vanity, therefore, she gained but little; her chief profit was in wonder.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
It will be good for my vanity, I was getting too proud of my wig.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
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