vainglory.

Excessive pride in your achievements, appearance, or status, especially when directed toward admiration.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• personal vainglory
• an act of vainglory

On the page

The monument seemed less a public gift than an exercise in vainglory.

Usage notes

Primary category: psychology / human behavior. Forms: Usually uncountable; no ordinary plural in this sense. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Commonness: uncommon.