vainglorious

adjective

ˌvān-ˈglȯr-ē-əs How to pronounce vainglorious (audio)
Definition of vaingloriousnext
as in smug
having too high an opinion of oneself a vainglorious woman who always insists on being the center of attention

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of vainglorious Claire’s elective death therefore remains a problematic choice for some viewers, an act of vainglorious selfishness from a woman who was never terribly nice to begin with. — Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 24 May 2026 Melodramatic and vainglorious, moody and capricious, a fidgety, neurotic hypochondriac, Stalin was a bundle of appalling contradictions. — Literary Hub, 25 Feb. 2026 All but the most vainglorious architects imagine that their buildings will change in some small way after completion. — Anthony Paletta, Curbed, 2 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for vainglorious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vainglorious
  1. smug
  2. arrogant
  3. proud
  4. vain
  5. self-important
  6. conceited
  7. pompous
Adjective
  • Historian Sandgruber describes how Alois Hitler wrote his 1895 letters in a deeply smug, anti-clerical manner that overestimated his abilities.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 June 2026
  • Li at times plays Cola with a smug impetuousness that belies her naivety about this world to a satisfying degree.
    — Sabrina Reed, Forbes.com, 17 June 2026
Definition of smug
Adjective
  • The arrogant, brooding youth is gone almost entirely, and someone far more circumspect and humbled kneels before his older brother.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026
  • The Fight for the Soul of College Football, as the Hurricanes’ bold, brash and arrogant style transformed college football into something closer to theater.
    — Emile Nuh, CNN Money, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of arrogant
Adjective
  • This Queens bakery comes from two restaurant-industry veterans and proud Filipinos Kimberly Camara and Kevin Borja, who started a pop-up back in 2020 and quickly developed a cult following that demanded a brick-and-mortar.
    — Kyle Beechey, Condé Nast Traveler, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Salesforce is proud to be an early investor, customer, and partner.
    — Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of proud
Adjective
  • Hoult’s Gilderoy Lockhart a notoriously vain, boastful and fame-obsessed wizard well versed in Memory Charms who is recruited by Dumbledore as Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts.
    — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 11 Aug. 2026
  • They are expected to become wiser but not louder, visible but not vain, accomplished but not demanding, and well-preserved but not provocative.
    — Debbie Millman, Time, 25 July 2026
Definition of vain
Adjective
  • Although the director’s overuse of foot-stomp transitions can feel a bit self-important — experimental for experimental’s sake — this is interesting theater of ideas.
    — Jared Kaufman, Twin Cities, 10 Aug. 2026
  • It’s dominated by a less than transparent booster, Eli James (Michael Hough), who comes with a self-important wife, Jemma (Mary Holland), and a pair of teenage twin girls who might be described as all dressed up with nowhere to go.
    — Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 9 July 2026
Definition of self-important
Adjective
  • Meanwhile, Johnson reprises his role as Moana's bantering reluctant partner, the shapeshifting trickster demigod Maui, alongside Jemaine Clement again voicing the conceited giant crustacean Tamatoa.
    — Brian Truitt, USA Today, 9 July 2026
  • Avoid Burying Praise in Negatives To avoid making children too conceited, parents might bury praise in the midst of negatives.
    — Wayne Parker, Parents, 8 Mar. 2026
Definition of conceited
Adjective
  • Does little Arabella care about going to another stuffy awards dinner with her pompous dad?
    — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 17 July 2026
  • Among them a City boy wearing three Fit-Bit-type devices, two beautiful Middle Eastern sisters, an outrageously pompous elderly American (sorry; eavesdropping), and several Imelda Marcos lookalikes, tottering out of the treatment rooms with, somehow, their elaborate hairstyles still intact.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 June 2026
Definition of pompous

Browse Nearby Words

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vainglorious
vaingloriousness
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Cite this Entry

“Vainglorious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vainglorious. Accessed 17 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of vainglorious for Spanish Speakers

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