vain
2 ENTRIES FOUND:
vainer;
vainest
vainer;
vainest
Britannica Dictionary definition of VAIN
1
[also more vain; most vain]
:
too proud of your own appearance, abilities, achievements, etc.
:
conceited
-
She is very vain about her appearance.
-
He is the vainest man I know.
2
:
having no success
:
not producing a desired result
-
They made a vain [=unsuccessful] attempt to escape.
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A vain effort to quell the public's fears only made matters worse.
-
Volunteers searched the area in the vain hope of finding clues.
in vain
:
without success
:
without producing a good or desired result
-
We searched in vain for the missing earring. [=we searched for the missing earring but did not find it]
-
He tried in vain to get the baby to sleep.
-
Her suffering will not be in vain. [=something good will happen because of her suffering]
take someone's name in vain
:
to use (a name, especially the name of God) in a way that does not show proper respect
-
He took God's name in vain.
-
(humorous) I thought I heard someone taking my name in vain. [=saying my name]
— vainly
adverb-
We tried vainly to get a taxi.
-
Volunteers vainly searched for clues.
