vanity

van·i·ty  (vn-t)

n. pl. van·i·ties

1. The quality or condition of being vain.

2. Excessive pride in one's appearance or accomplishments; conceit. See Synonyms at conceit.

3. Lack of usefulness, worth, or effect; worthlessness.

4.

a. Something that is vain, futile, or worthless.

b. Something about which one is vain or conceited.

5. A vanity case.

6. See dressing table.

7. A bathroom cabinet that encloses a basin and its water lines and drain, usually furnished with shelves and drawers underneath for storage of toiletries.

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[Middle English vanite, from Old French, from Latin vnits, from vnus, empty; see eu- in Indo-European roots.]

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vanity [ˈvænɪtɪ]

n pl -ties

1. the state or quality of being vain; excessive pride or conceit

2. ostentation occasioned by ambition or pride

3. an instance of being vain or something about which one is vain

4. the state or quality of being valueless, futile, or unreal

5. something that is worthless or useless

6. (Fine Arts & Visual Arts / Furniture) NZ short for vanity unit

[from Old French vanité, from Latin vānitās emptiness, from vānus empty]

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Vanity 

See Also: PRIDE

1. An aura of self-love clung to him like a cloak —Robert Traver
2. Arrogance … was escaping from him like steam —Cornell Woolrich
3. Arrogant as a hummingbird with a full feeder —A. E. Maxwell
4. As careful about his looks as a young girl getting ready for her first dance —Carlos Fuentes
5. Conceit grows as natural as hair on one’s head; but it is longer in coming out —Bartlett’s Dictionary of Americanisms
6. Conceit like a high gloss varnish smeared over him —Rosa Guy
7. Conceit that plays itself in an elevated nose … that is only playing at being conceited; like children play at being kings and queens and go strutting around with feathers and trains —Jerome K. Jerome
8. The ego blows up like a big balloon —Delmore Schwartz
9. Flaunt my knowledges, like a woman will flaunt her pretty body —Borden Deal
10. He was like a cock who thought the sun had risen to hear him crow —George Eliot
11. He [a man without vanity] would be a very admirable man, a man to be put under a glass case, and shown round as a specimen, a man to be stuck upon a pedestal, and copied like a school exercise —Jerome K. Jerome

    Jerome concluded his comparison as follows: “A man to be reverenced, but not a man to be loved, not a human brother whose hand we should care to grip.”

12. (Ed Koch) is like the rooster who takes credit for the sunrise —Jack Newfield, Village Voice, October 7, 1986
13. Looks at herself in the mirror like she was the first woman in the world —George Garrett
14. A man is inseparable from his congenital vanities and stupidities, as a dog is inseparable from its fleas —H. L. Mencken
15. A man who shows me his wealth is like the beggar who shows me his poverty; they are both looking for alms … the rich for the alms of envy, the poor man for the alms of my pity —Ben Hecht
16. My vanity [after hurtful remark] like a newly-felled tree, lies prone and bleeding —Carolyn Kizer
17. Preening himself like a courting rooster —Robert Traver
18. Preening like a politician after a landslide victory —Elyse Sommer
19. Puffed himself up like a ship in full sail —Hans Christian Andersen
20. Self-love is a cup without any bottom; you might pour all the great lakes into it, and never fill it up —Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
21. Sleek and smug as a full-bellied shark —T. Coraghessan Boyle
22. Strutting … like a pouter pigeon —Jerome K. Jerome

    The pigeon named for its propensity for puffing out its distensible crops provides a novel alternative of the more commonly used “Strutting like a peacock.”

23. Vanity is as ill at ease under indifference as tenderness is under a love which it cannot return —George Eliot
24. Vanity, like murder, will out —Hannah Parkhouse Cowley
25. Vanity, like sexual impulse, gives rise to needless self-reproach —Charles Horton Cooley

    Cooley followed up on his simile with “Why be ashamed of anything so human? What, indeed should we be without it.”

26. Vanity may be likened to the smooth-skinned and velvet-footed mouse, nibbling about forever in expectation of a crumb —William Gilmore Simms

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	vanity - feelings of excessive pride           amour propre, conceit, self-love pride, pridefulness - a feeling of self-respect and personal worth
	2.	vanity - the quality of being valueless or futile; "he rejected the vanities of the world" emptiness worthlessness, ineptitude - having no qualities that would render it valuable or useful; "the drill sergeant's intent was to convince all the recruits of their worthlessness"
	3.	vanity - the trait of being unduly vain and conceited; false pride conceitedness, conceit trait - a distinguishing feature of your personal nature narcism, narcissism, self-love - an exceptional interest in and admiration for yourself; "self-love that shut out everyone else" boastfulness, vainglory - outspoken conceit egotism, swelled head, self-importance - an exaggerated opinion of your own importance posturing - adopting a vain conceited posture
	4.	vanity - low table with mirror or mirrors where one sits while dressing or applying makeup dressing table, toilet table, dresser table - a piece of furniture having a smooth flat top that is usually supported by one or more vertical legs; "it was a sturdy table"

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vanity

noun

1. pride, arrogance, conceit, airs, showing off (informal), pretension, narcissism, egotism, self-love, ostentation, vainglory, self-admiration, affected ways, bigheadedness (informal), conceitedness, swollen-headedness (informal) Men who use steroids are motivated by sheer vanity.
pride modesty, humility, self-deprecation, meekness, self-abasement

2. futility, uselessness, worthlessness, emptiness, frivolity, unreality, triviality, hollowness, pointlessness, inanity, unproductiveness, fruitlessness, unsubstantiality, profitlessness the futility of human existence and the vanity of wealth
futility value, worth, importance

Quotations
"I've only been in love with a beer bottle and a mirror" [Sid Vicious]
"Vanity is a vital aid to nature: completely and absolutely necessary to life. It is one of nature's ways to bind you to the earth" [Elizabeth Smart Necessary Secrets]
"Vanity, like murder, will out" [Hannah Cowley The Belle's Stratagem]
"Possibly, more people kill themselves and others out of hurt vanity than out of envy, jealousy, malice or desire for revenge" [Iris Murdoch The Philosopher's Pupil]
"Vanity of vanities, all is vanity" Bible: Ecclesiastes
"We are so vain that we even care for the opinion of those we don't care for" [Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach]

Translations

vanity [ˈvænɪtɪ]

A. N

1. (= conceit) → vanidad f
to do sth out of vanity → hacer algo por vanidad

2. (= pride) → orgullo m

3. (= emptiness) → vanidad f
all is vanity → todo es vanidad

B. CPD vanity case N → neceser m
vanity (license) plate N (esp US) (Aut) → matrícula f personalizada
vanity unit N → lavabo m empotrado

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vanity [ˈvænəti] n

(= conceitedness) → vanité f

(= concern with one's appearance) → coquetterie f
He refused to wear glasses. It was sheer vanity → Il refusait de porter des lunettes. C'était par pure coquetterie.
to do sth out of vanity → faire qch par coquetterie

(= futility) → futilité f
vanity box n → vanity-case m
vanity case n → vanity-case m
vanity plate n → plaque f d'immatriculation personnalisée

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vanity

n

(concerning looks) → Eitelkeit f; (concerning own value) → Einbildung f, → Eingebildetheit f; vanity made him think he was bound to succeed → er war so eingebildet or so von sich eingenommen, dass er einen Misserfolg für ausgeschlossen hielt

(= worthlessness, of life, pleasures) → Nichtigkeit f, → Hohlheit f; (of words) → Hohlheit f; (of efforts) → Vergeblichkeit f; all is vanity → alles ist vergebens

(US: = dressing table) → Frisiertisch m

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vanity:

vanity case

n → Schmink- or Kosmetikkoffer m

Vanity Fair

n → Jahrmarkt m → der Eitelkeiten

vanity plates

pl (US Aut) Nummernschild mit persönlicher Note

vanity press

n (esp US) → Selbstkostenverlag m

vanity publishing

n Veröffentlichung, für die ein Autor selbst bezahlt, da es sonst nicht zur Veröffentlichung kommen würde

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vanity [ˈvænɪtɪ] n → vanità f inv

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vanity vain