in vain
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Filipino fans formed unmoving lines, hoping in vain to squeeze into the ludicrously limited capacity of Court 6 just to catch a glimpse of her main draw debut.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
Speaking of trillion-dollar leprechauns, you will hunt through all 545 pages in vain for those big “DOGE” savings you were promised.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 17, 2026
"How my life has been spent in vain here!"
From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026
A woman whose daughter died less than two weeks after being diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour is campaigning to change "appalling" research funding so her death "isn't in vain".
From BBC ● May 27, 2026
The sun was glaring through the smoky haze, but he ignored the heat as he ignored the charcoal dust that blackened his white fur and the midges that searched in vain for skin to bite.
From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
