vain
ineffectual or unsuccessful; futile: vain hopes;a vain effort;a vain war.
without real significance, value, or importance; baseless or worthless: vain pageantry;vain display.
Archaic. senseless or foolish.
Idioms about vain
in vain,
without effect or avail; to no purpose: lives lost in vain;to apologize in vain.
in an improper or irreverent manner: to take God's name in vain.
Origin of vain
1synonym study For vain
Other words for vain
1 | egotistic, self-complacent, vainglorious, proud, arrogant, overweening |
3 | fruitless, unavailing |
4 | unimportant, trivial, trifling, nugatory |
Opposites for vain
Other words from vain
- vain·ly, adverb
- vain·ness, noun
- un·vain·, adjective
- un·vain·ness, noun
Words that may be confused with vain
Words Nearby vain
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use vain in a sentence
Looming over all of this are Sirhan’s supporters who say he did not shoot Kennedy, and who have raised that issue in vain both in the California courts and in parole hearings.
Sirhan Sirhan, convicted of Robert F. Kennedy assassination, seeks parole with no opposition from prosecutors | Tom Jackman | August 25, 2021 | Washington PostIt seems like everything was in vain, everything we have done.
Afghanistan had a plan to free itself from cash. Now it risks running out. | Tate Ryan-Mosley, Charlotte Jee, Eileen Guo | August 20, 2021 | MIT Technology ReviewWe still struggled—often in vain—for meaningful inclusion in policy, science, news and entertainment relating to our lives.
Atypical Fell Short as Both Autistic Representation and Entertainment. At Least It Was Eclipsed During Its Own Time | Sarah Kurchak | July 16, 2021 | TimeEverything that happened, in my opinion, was in vain because nothing about the situation changed.
That year, his mother had tried in vain to procure a special education plan for him.
Held Back: Inside a Lost School Year | by Annie Waldman, ProPublica, photography by Cydni Elledge | June 28, 2021 | ProPublica
Asserting our right to free speech is the only to ensure that 12 people did not die in vain.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Our Duty Is to Keep Charlie Hebdo Alive | Ayaan Hirsi Ali | January 8, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTIn vain, fishermen waited for the sea to come back: there were no fish, there was no money for their families.
In many engagements volunteers asked regular army commanders for support, transport and ammunition, but often in vain.
Bitter Survivors and Caravans of Coffins from Ukraine’s “Eastern Boiler” | Anna Nemtsova | September 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTFaulkner, Whitman, and Dickinson did not labor in vain; their books live on, horizontally, stacked like bricks in a display case.
A Teacher Returns to the Classroom and Gets Schooled | Nick Romeo | September 1, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTFonda tried in vain to convince Jarrow and Archer to ditch the project.
vain also was the valour and ability he showed in the campaign against the Royalists in La Vende.
Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-PattisonThe hopes of a man that is void of understanding are vain and deceitful: and dreams lift up fools.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version | VariousHe went on, ruminating on the vain shadow, into which his over-heated ambition to act and to be distinguished, had involved him.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4 | Jane PorterHe came back in due time, but bringing nothing for me, and I felt that my appeal had been in vain.
The Boarded-Up House | Augusta Huiell SeamanAfter looking for them in vain down below he had feared that they might have found their way into the open air.
The Tale of Grandfather Mole | Arthur Scott Bailey
British Dictionary definitions for vain
/ (veɪn) /
inordinately proud of one's appearance, possessions, or achievements
given to ostentatious display, esp of one's beauty
worthless
senseless or futile
in vain to no avail; fruitlessly
take someone's name in vain
to use the name of someone, esp God, without due respect or reverence
jocular to mention someone's name
Origin of vain
1Derived forms of vain
- vainly, adverb
- vainness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with vain
see in vain; take someone's name in vain.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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