VANITY FAIR Definition & Meaning

Vanity Fair

noun

(in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress ) a fair that goes on perpetually in the town of Vanity and symbolizes worldly ostentation and frivolity.
(often lowercase) any place or group, as the world or fashionable society, characterized by or displaying a preoccupation with idle pleasures or ostentation.
(italics) a novel (1847–48) by Thackeray.

Vanity Fair

noun

literary.
often not capitals the social life of a community, esp of a great city, or the world in general, considered as symbolizing worldly frivolity

Vanity Fair

(1847–1848) A novel by the English author William Makepeace Thackeray. The leading character is Becky Sharp, an unscrupulous woman who gains wealth and influence by her cleverness.

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of Vanity Fair¹

from Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

While it was not something she had planned on, Tran came out publicly in an interview with Vanity Fair during a set visit.

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Tina Brown, the former Vanity Fair editor, put her own review somewhat harshly, concluding that Meghan has an "unerring instinct for getting it wrong".

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"The atmosphere around Harry and Meghan is so febrile," says Vanity Fair contributing editor, Anna Peele, who spent months working on a piece about the couple.

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Former Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter’s memoir, ‘When the Going Was Good,’ chronicles the glamour, the power and the boldface names from the golden age of magazine publishing.

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After the release of a steamy Vanity Fair cover shoot with Cindy Crawford, the hit song went on to win a Grammy for female pop vocal performance in 1993.

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