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Vanity   /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.
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.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Vanity" Quotes from Famous Books



... poems; if they should imprudently do so, we find but little sequence, and nothing of that clear order, of that marvellous unity, which mark the works of the masters. Everything is sought to flatter that pretentious vanity of the limited understanding which piques itself on its stereotyped knowledge, always striving to usurp the higher empire of the divining soul. Such writing certainly requires subtlety of intellect, for ...
— The Continental Monthly, Vol. III, No. V, May, 1863 - Devoted to Literature and National Policy • Various

... that odd strain for the mere joy of it, and there was in his voice the God-given vanity of ...
— Darrel of the Blessed Isles • Irving Bacheller

... to reflect on the staying powers of the race, I have not the remotest idea of pandering to conceit or vanity, to the contrary, I decry any disposition to extol and magnify whatever we are subjectively, and whatever we have achieved. The fierce conflicts we have undergone and the terrible crucible through which the cruel hand ...
— Twentieth Century Negro Literature - Or, A Cyclopedia of Thought on the Vital Topics Relating - to the American Negro • Various

... indifferent to her, I may without vanity believe. I had a five minutes alone with her just before we parted, and I took that opportunity of saying how much pain it was to part with her, and for once I told the truth, for I was almost choking when ...
— The Poacher - Joseph Rushbrook • Frederick Marryat

... had a beautiful pair of hands, gentle yet as strong as steel. She had thought Patsy's anxiety about Mustapha's being ridden by any one but himself unnecessary, perhaps even with an unconscious spice of vanity underlying it. Patsy had conquered Mustapha. Perhaps he would not be altogether pleased that the horse should be amenable to some one else, yet Mustapha had taken a lump of sugar from her hand, only yesterday, as daintily as her own Chloe, his muzzle moving ...
— Love of Brothers • Katharine Tynan


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