vainglorious

adjective

vain·​glo·​ri·​ous ˌvān-ˈglȯr-ē-əs How to pronounce vainglorious (audio)
: marked by vainglory : boastful
vaingloriously adverb
vaingloriousness noun

Examples of vainglorious in a Sentence

a vainglorious woman who always insists on being the center of attention
Recent Examples on the Web The tragedy is that reality does not care one iota for our vainglorious beliefs. David Robert Grimes, Scientific American, 1 Sep. 2023 The current policy of neglect about our laws is financially ruinous, and morally vainglorious. The Editors, National Review, 14 Aug. 2023 Dhawan plays a charming, vainglorious and image-conscious history teacher who gains redemption via profound realizations stemming from his study of WWII and from his new bride, portrayed by Janhvi Kapoor. Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 17 July 2023 Early records served as holy texts for millennial ennui, full of professional anxiety and vainglorious nights out, but as the band has returned to each other, again and again over the decades, the songs have increasingly felt like not just products of long term relationships but odes to them. Clayton Purdom, Rolling Stone, 26 Apr. 2023 During his 20-minute border speech, Trump was the same vainglorious mess he’s always been. Gilbert Garcia, ExpressNews.com, 12 Jan. 2021 Burnham’s Bard is gloriously vainglorious. David L. Coddon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 July 2022 But screeds against Qatar’s World Cup almost seem to cast the emirate’s authorities as vainglorious pharaohs, driving chattel to build their gleaming pyramids. Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 5 Dec. 2022 Glass Onion director Rian Johnson probably wasn’t thinking specifically about Elon or Jeff Bezos or any other vainglorious member of the billionaire class when making his movie, which is primarily built around a murder. Chris Smith, BGR, 30 Nov. 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'vainglorious.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English vaynegloryous, from vaynglorie vainglory + -ous -ous, after Middle French vaneglorious and Medieval Latin vāniglōrius

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of vainglorious was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near vainglorious

Cite this Entry

“Vainglorious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vainglorious. Accessed 9 Dec. 2023.

Kids Definition

vainglorious

adjective
vain·​glo·​ri·​ous (ˈ)vān-ˈglōr-ē-əs How to pronounce vainglorious (audio)
-ˈglȯr-
: being vain and boastful : showing vainglory
vaingloriously adverb
vaingloriousness noun

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