vanity /ˈvænəti/

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外刊例句

The art of the bezzle is to inflate profits, pump up the stock price and quietly sell your shareholdings to credulous outsiders. But money is not the only incentive. Vanity is also a factor.

耍滑头的艺术就是虚报利润，抬高股价，然后悄悄地把你的股份卖给轻信你的局外人。但是，金钱并不是唯一的激励因素。虚荣心也是其中的一个因素。

——《经济学人》

基本释义

vanity：If you refer to someone's vanity, you are critical of them because they take great pride in their appearance or abilities.

n. 虚荣心；空虚

追根溯源

单词vanity里的词根van来自拉丁语，表示“空白，空虚”，所以，在英语里包含van/vac的单词，多与此相关。例如：

vanish /ˈvænɪʃ/ v. 消失

vacant /ˈveɪkənt/ adj. 空缺的；空闲的

vacation /veɪˈkeɪʃn/ n. 假期

vacuum /ˈvækjuːm/ n. 真空

所以，van（空虚） ity（表示名词）=空虚，虚荣心