vanity Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun feelings of excessive pride
    conceit; self-love; amour propre.
  2. noun the quality of being valueless or futile
    emptiness.
    • he rejected the vanities of the world
  3. noun the trait of being unduly vain and conceited; false pride
    conceit; conceitedness.
  4. noun low table with mirror or mirrors where one sits while dressing or applying makeup
    dressing table; toilet table; dresser.

WordNet

Van"i*ty noun
Etymology
OE. vanite, vanité, L. vanitas, fr. vanus empty, vain. See Vain.
Wordforms
plural Vanities
Definitions
  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 1913