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vanité

vanity, conceit

noun vah-nee-TEH Rare
Mind & Emotions Personality

Origin: Latin vanitas, from vanus (empty, vain)

Also means

futility, emptiness

Usage Note

Vanité carries both the moral sense of excessive pride in one's appearance and the philosophical sense of futility or emptiness (as in the biblical vanité des vanités). The adjective is vaniteux (conceited). In art history, une vanité is a still-life painting featuring symbols of mortality, a genre popular in 17th-century Europe.

Examples

"Sa vanité l'empêche d'accepter les critiques."

Natural Translation

His vanity prevents him from accepting criticism.

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