vainglory

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

noun

1. excessive elation or pride over one's own achievements, abilities, etc.; boastful vanity.

   Antonyms: humility

2. empty pomp or show.

   Synonyms: ostentation

vainglory

/ ˌveɪnˈɡlɔːrɪ /

noun

1. boastfulness or vanity
2. ostentation

Word History and Origins

Origin of vainglory¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English vainglorie, vein glorie, from Old French vaine gloiri, from translation of Latin vāna glōria “empty glory”; ( vain, glory )

Synonym Study

See pride.

Example Sentences

That’s the mantra for wide receivers, a group long known for their vainglory.

From Los Angeles Times

When Williams conducts the “Imperial March,” he can both scare you with the Empire’s fully-operational battle power, as with the Berlin Philharmonic, and mock its vainglory, as with the Vienna Philharmonic.

From New York Times

Another way to view this, as "The White Lotus" reminds us, is that the show's exhibitions of vainglory and egotism are neither inherently masculine nor feminine.

From Salon

Out it all pours: the vainglory, the moral equivocation and especially the furious envy of “Albert bloody Pierrepoint,” the “Number One hangman all them years,” with hundreds more executions to his credit.

From New York Times

When she says, “All white people look the same” or “It’s true, I am good at everything,” there is vulnerability to her vainglory because it is so transparently insecure.

From The New Yorker