Vainglorious

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˌveɪnˈɡlɔː.ɹi.əs/

Definitions

1. Excessively proud of oneself or one's achievements in a way that seeks admiration and appears boastful
2. Characterized by excessive self-admiration and arrogant display of one's accomplishments in a manner designed to attract attention and praise
3. Marked by intense conceit and ostentatious pride in one's own worth or deeds, coupled with a desperate craving for recognition and approval

Etymology: "Vainglorious" is built from two Latin roots that were already a pairing in medieval French before reaching English. Its first half, "vānus," meant "empty" or "idle," the same root that gives "vain" its sense of being hollow or futile. Its second half, "glōriōsus," meant "full of glory," from "glōria." Joined together, the sense is glory that is empty, a boast with nothing behind it. The word passed into Middle English as "veinglorious," taken from the Old French "vain glorios." English speakers then kept the spelling flexible for centuries, and the modern form settled later. The pairing made sense to medieval writers, who were comfortable with the idea that pride itself was a kind of emptiness, and it is that moral judgment that remains built into the word's meaning today.

Synonyms: proud, boastful, conceited, arrogant, haughty

Antonyms: humble, modest, self-effacing