vainglorious

English

WOTD – 11 December 2008

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˌveɪnˈɡlɔː.ɹi.əs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔːɹiəs

Adjective

vainglorious (comparative more vainglorious, superlative most vainglorious)

1. With excessive vanity or unwarranted pride.
   • 1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1965, →OCLC, page 85:

     "So kindly keep the vainglorious enumeration of your pots for the benefit of those village idiots who compose your particular set of boozing companions."

   • 1943 March and April, “Notes and News: Southern Locomotive Destroys Raider”, in Railway Magazine, page 119:

     Railway engines have been attacked with gunfire by raiding aircraft on both sides of the Channel and the impression has grown up that they are defenceless monsters to be pestered with impunity. The first engine to disprove this vainglorious theory was, we are glad to note, a British one. [The locomotive boiler exploded, causing the aircraft to crash.]

Related terms

• vainglory

Translations

with excessive vanity or unwarranted pride

• Armenian: փառամոլ (hy) (pʿaṙamol)
• Bulgarian: суетен (bg) (sueten), тщесла́вен (bg) (tštesláven)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 非常自負／非常自负 (fēicháng zìfù)

• Czech: zpupný m, chvástavý m
• Dutch: verwaand (nl)
• Finnish: turhamainen (fi), turhantärkeä, tyhmänylpeä
• French: orgueilleux (fr), vaniteux (fr), fanfaron (fr)

  Middle French: vainglorieux

• Georgian: პატივმოყვარე (ṗaṭivmoq̇vare), დიდების მოყვარე (didebis moq̇vare)
• German: hochmütig (de), dünkelhaft (de), aufgeblasen (de), prahlerisch
• Gothic: 𐍆𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍄𐍃 (flauts)
• Greek: ματαιόδοξος (el) (mataiódoxos)

  Ancient: κενόδοξος (kenódoxos), πέρπερος (pérperos)

• Italian: vanaglorioso (it)
• Portuguese: vanglorioso m
• Russian: тщесла́вный (ru) (tščeslávnyj)
• Spanish: vanidoso (es) m, soberbio (es) m, fachendoso m, perdonavidas (es) m, fanfarrón (es) m

References

• “vainglorious”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.