vainglorious

[ veyn-glawr-ee-uhs, -glohr- ]

adjective

1. filled with or given to vainglory:

   a vainglorious actor.

2. characterized by, showing, or proceeding from vainglory:

   a vainglorious estimate of one's ability.

Other Words From

• vain·glori·ous·ly adverb
• vain·glori·ous·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of vainglorious¹

First recorded in 1470–80; vainglory + -ous

Example Sentences

He subsequently played a villain in the “Fast & the Furious” franchise, Aramis in “The Three Musketeers,” a dragon slayer in Peter Jackson’s Hobbit movies, Vlad the vampire in “Dracula Untold” and the vainglorious Gaston in Disney’s live-action “Beauty and the Beast.”

From Los Angeles Times

As Charles Foster Kane, a sendup of newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, Welles embodied the image of a vainglorious Great Man.

From Los Angeles Times

Boyle plays Booth as both vainglorious and self-pitying.

From Los Angeles Times

As the team takes samples to measure water quality, they do not mince their words about the train, calling it a "pharaonic monument" which they say was erected to a vainglorious leader.

From BBC

The tragedy is that reality does not care one iota for our vainglorious beliefs.

From Scientific American