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vanity - 5 dictionary results
van⋅i⋅ty
[van-i-tee] 
ɪ
noun, plural -ties, adjective –noun
| 1. | excessive pride in one's appearance, qualities, abilities, achievements, etc.; character or quality of being vain; conceit: Failure to be elected was a great blow to his vanity. |
| 2. | an instance or display of this quality or feeling. |
| 3. | something about which one is vain. |
| 4. | lack of real value; hollowness; worthlessness: the vanity of a selfish life. |
| 5. | something worthless, trivial, or pointless. |
| 6. | vanity case. |
| 7. | dressing table. |
| 8. | a wide, counterlike shelf containing a wash basin, as in the bathroom of a hotel or residence, often equipped with shelves, drawers, etc., underneath. |
| 9. | a cabinet built below or around a bathroom sink, primarily to hide exposed pipes. |
| 10. | compact 1 (def. 13). |
–adjective
| 11. | produced as a showcase for one's own talents, esp. as a writer, actor, singer, or composer: a vanity production. |
| 12. | of, pertaining to, or issued by a vanity press: a spate of vanity books. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To vanity
| dressing table n. A low table with a mirror at which one sits while applying makeup. Also called vanity. |
| van·i·ty (vān'ĭ-tē) n. pl. van·i·ties
[Middle English vanite, from Old French, from Latin vānitās, from vānus, empty; see euə- in Indo-European roots.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : vanity
Spanish:
vanidad,
German:
die Eitelkeit,
Japanese:
虚栄心
vanity
c.1230, "that which is vain, futile, or worthless," from O.Fr. vanite, from L. vanitatem (nom. vanitas) "emptiness, foolish pride," from vanus "empty, vain, idle" (see vain). Meaning "self-conceited" is attested from c.1340. Vanity table is attested from 1936. Vanity Fair is from "Pilgrim's Progress" (1678).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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