vanity

CEFRB2

/ˈvænɪti/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

01
noun
Too much pride in your appearance or achievements.
02
noun
Extra detail
A dressing table used to apply makeup, preen, and coif hair, in which the table is normally quite low and similar to a desk.

Examples

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Also pronounced

Deep Dive

Extra meanings

Excessive pride in or admiration of one's own abilities, appearance, achievements, or possessions.
That which is vain, futile, or worthless; that which is of no value, use or profit.
A washbasin installed into a permanently fixed storage unit, used as an item of bathroom furniture.

In context

There is, perhaps, not one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as vanity.
It is a vanity to say that if two stones are dropped from a tower, the heavier will experience the greater acceleration.
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.

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Question 1 · Quick check

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The word in print, with each source given in full.

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.
1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “A Project”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 224
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.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ecclesiastes 2:15–16
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
1981, Ashford & Simpson, “It Shows In the Eyes”, in Performance
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.
2024 November 29, Joshua Stylman, How Engineered Dependency Erases Our Autonomy
She was sitting in front of her vanity, brushing out her hair.
2020, Brit Bennett, The Vanishing Half, Dialogue Books, page 148

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