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.
DeConinck said city leadership flew to Sacramento and tried, in vain, to get any traction.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
Instead of the happy family reunion they'd always imagined, Godwin's first trip to the US was spent searching New York in vain for the father he'd waited years to reconnect with.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
In the run-up to the trial, Davis's lawyers tried in vain to keep the book from being introduced as evidence, along with remarks he made in an interview with police in 2008.
From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026
Guy scanned the sea of bald caps in vain, then panicked.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
“Kudirat’s death will not be in vain, it will only galvanize the democratic movement in a way that even her life did not! I just wrote an article about this issue online in Nigerian Village.”
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
