vanity

vanity
    n 1: feelings of excessive pride [syn: {amour propre},
         {conceit}, {self-love}, {vanity}]
    2: the quality of being valueless or futile; "he rejected the
       vanities of the world" [syn: {vanity}, {emptiness}]
    3: the trait of being unduly vain and conceited; false pride
       [syn: {conceit}, {conceitedness}, {vanity}] [ant:
       {humbleness}, {humility}]
    4: low table with mirror or mirrors where one sits while
       dressing or applying makeup [syn: {dressing table},
       {dresser}, {vanity}, {toilet table}]
    

Vanity \Van"i*ty\, n.; pl. {Vanities}. [OE. vanite, F.
   vanit['e], L. vanitas, fr. vanus empty, vain. See {Vain}.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. The quality or state of being vain; want of substance to
      satisfy desire; emptiness; unsubstantialness; unrealness;
      falsity.
      [1913 Webster]

            Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of
            vanities; all is vanity.              --Eccl. i. 2.
      [1913 Webster]

            Here I may well show the vanity of that which is
            reported in the story of Walsingham.  --Sir J.
                                                  Davies.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. An inflation of mind upon slight grounds; empty pride
      inspired by an overweening conceit of one's personal
      attainments or decorations; an excessive desire for notice
      or approval; pride; ostentation; conceit.
      [1913 Webster]

            The exquisitely sensitive vanity of Garrick was
            galled.                               --Macaulay.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. That which is vain; anything empty, visionary, unreal, or
      unsubstantial; fruitless desire or effort; trifling labor
      productive of no good; empty pleasure; vain pursuit; idle
      show; unsubstantial enjoyment.
      [1913 Webster]

            Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher. --Eccl. i.
                                                  2.
      [1913 Webster]

            Vanity possesseth many who are desirous to know the
            certainty of things to come.          --Sir P.
                                                  Sidney.
      [1913 Webster]

            [Sin] with vanity had filled the works of men.
                                                  --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

            Think not, when woman's transient breath is fled,
            That all her vanities at once are dead;
            Succeeding vanities she still regards. --Pope.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. One of the established characters in the old moralities
      and puppet shows. See {Morality}, n., 5.
      [1913 Webster]

            You . . . take vanity the puppet's part. --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. same as {dressing table}.
      [PJC]

   6. A cabinet built around a bathroom sink, usually with a
      countertop and sometimes drawers.
      [PJC]

   Syn: Egotism; pride; emptiness; worthlessness;
        self-sufficiency. See {Egotism}, and {Pride}.
        [1913 Webster]
    

Dressing table \Dressing table\, n.
   a table, usually having a vertical back piece containing a
   mirror, at which a person may sit while dressing or applying
   makeup, and on which articles for the toilet stand. It often
   has drawers for toiletries, clothing, or accessories. It is
   also called a {vanity} or {vanity table}.
   [PJC]
    

VANITY, n.  The tribute of a fool to the worth of the nearest ass.

    They say that hens do cackle loudest when
        There's nothing vital in the eggs they've laid;
        And there are hens, professing to have made
    A study of mankind, who say that men
    Whose business 'tis to drive the tongue or pen
        Make the most clamorous fanfaronade
        O'er their most worthless work; and I'm afraid
    They're not entirely different from the hen.
    Lo! the drum-major in his coat of gold,
        His blazing breeches and high-towering cap --
    Imperiously pompous, grandly bold,
        Grim, resolute, an awe-inspiring chap!
    Who'd think this gorgeous creature's only virtue
    Is that in battle he will never hurt you?
                                                     Hannibal Hunsiker
    

104 Moby Thesaurus words for "vanity":
      absurdity, aimlessness, amour propre, arrogance, autotheism,
      big deal, bluster, boast, boastfulness, boasting, bombast,
      bootlessness, brag, braggadocio, braggartism, bragging, bravado,
      cockiness, conceit, conceitedness, egotism, emptiness, face,
      fanfaronade, fatuity, fecklessness, flimsiness, folly, foolishness,
      frivolity, frivolousness, fruitlessness, futility, gasconade,
      gasconism, haughtiness, heroics, hollowness, idleness, impotence,
      inanity, independence, ineffectiveness, ineffectuality, inefficacy,
      jactation, jactitation, levity, lightness, meaninglessness,
      narcissism, nugacity, otiosity, pardonable pride, pointlessness,
      pride, pridefulness, profitlessness, proudness, purposelessness,
      purse-pride, rat race, rodomontade, self-admiration, self-conceit,
      self-confidence, self-consequence, self-esteem, self-importance,
      self-love, self-reliance, self-respect, self-sufficiency,
      self-worship, shallowness, side, silliness, slenderness,
      slightness, stiff-necked pride, stiff-neckedness, superficiality,
      swagger, the absurd, triflingness, triteness, triviality,
      trivialness, unproductiveness, unprofitability, unprofitableness,
      unreality, uselessness, vacuity, vacuousness, vainglory, vainness,
      valuelessness, vapidity, vaunt, vauntery, vaunting, vicious circle,
      worthlessness