# vanity
## English
### Etymology

From va(i)n +‎ -ity, from Middle English vanite, from Old French vanité, from Latin vānitas, from vānus, whence English vain. Doublet of vanitas.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈvænɪti/
* Audio (Received Pronunciation):(file)
* (General American) IPA: /ˈvænəti/, [-ɾi]
* Audio (General American):(file)
* Hyphenation: van‧i‧ty

### Noun

vanity (countable and uncountable, plural vanities)
* That which is vain, futile, or worthless; that which is of no value, use or profit.
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ecclesiastes 2:15–16:Then I said in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me and why then was I more wise? Then I said in my heart that this is also vanity. / For there is no more remembrance of the wise than the fool forever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.
* Excessive pride in or admiration of one's own abilities, appearance, achievements, or possessions.
** 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “A Project”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 224:To make a man in love with you gives an instant hold on his vanity; and with that, you can do any thing. Vanity is the real lever with which Archimedes said he could move the earth; so, try what you can effect with Sir Robert.
** 1981, Ashford & Simpson (lyrics and music), “It Shows In the Eyes”, in Performance:Try to second guess what people see / All the time it's just your vanity / No one's impressed and you wonder why / Well it is, it shows in the eyes
** 2024 November 29, Joshua Stylman, How Engineered Dependency Erases Our Autonomy‎:Social media hasn’t just weaponized our vanity—it’s transformed us from humans into curated digital performances. Our phones have become portable propaganda machines for our personal brands.
* A dressing table used to apply makeup, preen, and coif hair, in which the table is normally quite low and similar to a desk.
** 2020, Brit Bennett, The Vanishing Half, Dialogue Books, page 148:She was sitting in front of her vanity, brushing out her hair.
* A washbasin installed into a permanently fixed storage unit, used as an item of bathroom furniture.
* (obsolete) Any idea, theory or statement that is without foundation.
    It is a vanity to say that if two stones are dropped from a tower, the heavier will experience the greater acceleration.
** 1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:To help the matter, the alchemists call in likewise many vanities out of astrology.

#### Synonyms

* See Thesaurus:arrogance

#### Derived terms

* vanity box
* vanity card
* vanity case
* vanity domain
* vanity height
* vanity item
* vanity label
* vanity license plate
* vanity number
* vanity plate
* vanity press
* vanity publisher
* vanity publishing
* vanity sizing
* vanity surgery
* vanity table

#### Related terms

* vain

#### Further reading

* vanity on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* “vanity”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
* “vanity”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.