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.
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
Her shower not only was disrupted, but it was in vain because Basu started to sweat immediately.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
The German War Graves Commission said the families of these two soldiers would have "waited in vain" for official notification of their deaths.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
Guy scanned the sea of bald caps in vain, then panicked.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
I don’t want to have lived in vain like most people.
From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank
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.
