vainglorious

UK/ˌveɪnˈɡlɔː.ɹi.əs/US/ˌveɪnˈɡlɔː.ɹi.əs/

adjectiveC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,604 of 15,258leans spoken

Vainglorious means boastfully and excessively proud. A vainglorious speech, vainglorious display, vainglorious and empty.

It is stronger than vain and older-sounding, and it carries the idea that the pride is unearned as well as loud. Vainglory was counted among the deadly sins before pride absorbed it. The Latin vanus means empty.

Definitions of vainglorious

1adjectivevaingloriousBoastfully and excessively proud.C2
“The vainglorious general had statues of himself put up in every town.”

vainglorious is a quality of pride.

Where it comes from

Latin vanus, empty, plus gloriosus, boastful. Vainglory was once counted a deadly sin of its own.

Latin
vānus — empty
Old French
vain glorios
Middle English
veinglorious
English, today
vainglorious

From Middle English veinglorious, from Old French vain glorios, from Latin vānus (“empty”) + glōriōsus.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire

Practise this word

vainglorious in the wild

Contemporary French and Burgundian verdicts ranged from admiration for his discipline and prudence to portrayals of a vainglorious tyrant.
Henry V of England
Set in the late 19th century, the plot revolves around two women who are married to a vainglorious Bengali landlord who exploits them to obtain social status.
Antarmahal
In this case, he objected to his portrayal as a vainglorious coward and to the imitation of his voice.
Bingo Crosbyana

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the vānus family

vain vanish

vainglorious — used about once every 54,060 pages · #14,604 · point at the bar for the others

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