Vanity has multiple different meanings. This article will show you how to use all of the different meanings of this noun.
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Kevin
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February 11, 2022
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You may have a vanity in your home, or you might experience some healthy vanity while you’re getting ready to go out on the town. If you don’t know what vanity means, check out this Word Counter post to expand your vocabulary.
What Does the Word Vanity Mean?
According to Collins English Dictionary, the noun vanity has a couple of potential meanings. First, vanity refers to a sense of excessive pride and arrogance or overweening conceit. This kind of inflation of mind and fruitless desire for personal attainments can often garner negative criticism.
The noun vanity can also refer to a bench or cabinet above or below a bathroom sink used to store toiletries. These bathroom drawers are sometimes a low table that comes with a seat so someone can do their makeup or hair in front of a mirror.
What Are Translations of the Word Vanity?
To discuss the concept of vanity with people in another language, you need to know how to say vanity in multiple languages. This list of translations of the word vanity has got you covered.
You might notice that several of the below translations look and sound similar to the word vanity itself. When two words in different languages sound and look alike, they are called cognates. Cognates are often formed when two words have the same language of origin or root word, like Latin or Greek.
- Portuguese: vaidade (fem.)
- Welsh: oferedd (masc.), gwagedd (masc.)
- French: vanité (fem.)
- Romanian: vanitate (fem.), mândrie, îngâmfare (fem.)
- Greek: ματαιοδοξία (fem.)
- Armenian: սնափառություն
- Estonian: edevus
- Afrikaans: Adelheid
- Macedonian: суета
- Italian: vanità (fem.)
- Finnish: turhamaisuus
- Catalan: vanitat (fem.)
- Latin: vanitas (fem.)
- Asturian: vanidá (fem.)
- Hungarian: hiúság, önteltség
- Spanish: vanidad (fem.)
- Japanese: 虚栄心 (きょえいしん, kyoeishin)
- Czech: marnivost (fem.), ješitnost (fem.), domýšlivost (fem.)
- Esperanto: vanteco
- Galician: validate (fem.)
- Serbo-Croatian: visokoumlje (neut.), sujeta (fem.), slavoljublje (neut.)
- Arabic: غُرُور (masc.)
- Turkish: gurur
- Swedish: fåfänga (common)
- Malay: kesombongan
- Mandarin: 虛榮心, 虚荣心 (xūróngxīn)
- German: Eitelkeit (fem.)
- Azeri: qürrə
- Polish: próżność (fem.)
- Norwegian: forfengelighet (fem.)
- Danish: forfængelighed (common)
- Dutch: ijdelheid (fem.)
- Persian: غرور (ghurūr)
- Russian: тщесла́вие (neut.), суета́ (fem.)
- Scottish Gaelic: uaill (fem.), dìomhanas (masc.), faoineas (masc.)
What Is the Etymology of the Word Vanity?
According to Your Dictionary of the English language, the word vanity has been used since the 14th century Middle English vanite. This word stems from the Old French vanité. The French term comes from the Latin vānitās and the Latin term vānus, meaning empty. This word has Indo-European roots.
How Can the Word Vanity Be Used in a Sentence?
Since vanity has two meanings, it is crucial to know how to use each and understand their individual connotations.
When using vanity to describe a type of bathroom or dressing room cabinet, it does not have a negative connotation. However, using the word vanity to discuss a personality trait is typically negative. The example sentences below will help you get started using the word vanity in all its many contexts:
She searched through all the shelves in her bathroom cabinet as well as her vanity but could not find the medication she was looking for.
The water lines under Gloria’s vanity burst, sending disgusting sewer water up the drain. It got all over the wash basin and countertop and was outside the realm of her own abilities to fix.
His trait of vanity was unbecoming, and he took a great blow to the ego when he learned about his lack of real value. This sense of false pride inflated all of his achievements, but he was truly average at his core.
His excessive belief in his own attractiveness and glory was a total turn-off to women on dating platforms. His empty pride brought him empty pleasure, and he had to do some soul searching to find what really made him happy.
Her life of hard labor strongly differed from his life of vanity and the idle show of work. He had barely lifted a finger in his life in the vain pursuit of a modeling career.
What Are Synonyms for the Word Vanity?
Vanity has a negative connotation. If you are looking for a word with a more positive meaning that does not have narcissistic undertones, it might be best to opt for a synonym. For a complete list of synonyms for the word vanity with negative and positive connotation, look no further than this list from Power Thesaurus.
- amour propre
- arrogance
- big-headedness
- boastfulness
- rootlessness
- cockiness
- conceit
- conceitedness
- dresser
- dressing table
- ego
- ego trip
- egoism
- egotism
- emptiness
- fruitlessness
- futility
- haughtiness
- hauteur
- hollowness
- hubris
- narcissism
- ostentation
- pointlessness
- pomposity
- pompousness
- pretension
- pride
- pridefulness
- self-absorption
- self-admiration
- self-conceit
- self-esteem
- self-importance
- self-love
- self-regard
- self-satisfaction
- smugness
- snobbery
- superciliousness
- toilet table
- uselessness
- vainglory
- vainness
- worthlessne
What Are Antonyms for the Word Vanity?
If someone exemplifies the opposite of the word vanity, you should use an antonym. This significant list of antonyms of the word vanity from Power Thesaurus can help you get started:
- altruism
- apple-polishing
- arse kissing
- arse licking
- arse-licking
- ass licking
- ass-kissing
- ass-licking
- benevolence
- big cheese
- big fish
- big wig
- bootlicking
- brown-nosing
- demureness
- diffidence
- exercitation
- helpfulness
- humbleness
- humility
- meekness
- modesty
- selflessness
- value
Conclusion
The word vanity has two different meanings. First, the word vanity can refer to a type of bathroom or dressing room cabinet with a mirror and drawers that a person uses to get ready. The word vanity can also be used to describe a personality trait of excessive pride and conceit.
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