as in smug
having too high an opinion of oneself
a vainglorious woman who always insists on being the center of attention
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of vainglorious
Saudi Arabia has, after all, seen the axis of resistance’s vainglorious and quixotic movie before.
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Bernard Haykel, Foreign Affairs, 12 Feb. 2024
Maximilian is often portrayed as a vainglorious buffoon, a quixotic old-school European aristocrat egged on by an ambitious wife.
—Richard Feinberg, Foreign Affairs, 22 Feb. 2022
The tragedy is that reality does not care one iota for our vainglorious beliefs.
—David Robert Grimes, Scientific American, 1 Sep. 2023
The current policy of neglect about our laws is financially ruinous, and morally vainglorious.
—The Editors, National Review, 14 Aug. 2023
See All Example Sentences for vainglorious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vainglorious
Adjective
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But my in-laws seemed not to catch this smug look of his, and when my mother-in-law excused herself to go to the bathroom, my father-in-law took the opportunity to go over to his desk and take out one of his special blue envelopes.—
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But those smug computers obviously haven’t seen a shirtless Illini coach Brad Underwood and his Super Soaker squirt gun.—
Adjective
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In a world where deal flow is crucial, being labeled as an arrogant VC results in missing out on prime opportunities.—
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The arrogant anti-union stance did not start with the current CEO; even the legendary Studs Terkel was slapped down by WFMT management for his earlier support of an effort to unionize in 1990.—
Adjective
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Mike is a native of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, the proud home of Steelers training camp, and graduated from American University in Washington, D.C.—
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In a post-credits scene from a recent episode of The Kardashians, the proud mom looked at the analytics from her daughter's Lion King performance and was shocked that North was more popular than the rest of her family.—
Adjective
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Foolish, vain, and petty Jasmine may be, but Blanchett managed to make her slow-motion downfall oddly emotional.—
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Sabalenka refused to let up in the second set, forcing Kartal to sprint around the court in a vain attempt to withstand the barrage and wrapping up the victory in a little over an hour.—
Adjective
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In the 1998 episode, Theroux, 53, appears briefly as an egotistical writer who flirts with Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw at a party.—
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Yes: Crumb’s work is egotistical, misogynist, racist—or, more generously, a feculent parody.—
Adjective
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The Green Mile, with its three-hours-plus run time, might as well be exhibit A for Hollywood’s myriad overlong, self-important Oscar-bait dramas.—
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Unsurprisingly, the small army of senior executives with make-work jobs and self-important titles, who add little to nothing to build Hearst’s brands, apparently made it through today relatively unscathed.—
Adjective
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This is the worst kind of football team: a conceited but objectively mediocre squad.—
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Rory Kinnear steals some of the best lines as the conceited British prime minister, and Ato Essandoh, as Kate’s deputy chief, plays the ever-flustered man surrounded by extremely capable women with admirable humor, charm, and confidence.—
Adjective
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Basden could have slicked up his acting with a lot of pompous pop star clichés.—
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And every scene and song featuring the hilarious Eric Anderson as the pompous and preening Union Gen. George B. McClellan is a comic gem.—
Cite this Entry
“Vainglorious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vainglorious. Accessed 9 Apr. 2025.
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