vain

adjective

ˈvān 

1

: having or showing undue or excessive pride in one's appearance or achievements : conceited

2

: marked by futility or ineffectualness : unsuccessful, useless

vain efforts to escape

3

: having no real value : idle, worthless

vain pretensions

4

archaic : foolish, silly

vainly adverb

vainness

ˈvān-nəs 

noun

Phrases

in vain

1

: to no end : without success or result

her efforts were in vain

2

: in an irreverent or blasphemous manner

Being a religion writer, I have always tried to avoid using the Lord's name in vain. I have not always succeeded.

—Don Lattin

see also take in vain

Synonyms

• assured
• biggety [Southern & Midland]
• biggity
• bigheaded
• complacent
• conceited
• consequential
• egoistic
• egoistical
• egotistic
• egotistical
• important
• overweening
• pompous
• prideful
• proud
• self-conceited
• self-important
• self-opinionated
• self-satisfied
• smug
• stuck-up
• swellheaded
• vainglorious

Choose the Right Synonym for vain

futile, vain, fruitless mean producing no result.

futile may connote completeness of failure or unwisdom of undertaking.

resistance had proved so futile that surrender was the only choice left

vain usually implies simple failure to achieve a desired result.

a vain attempt to get the car started

fruitless comes close to vain but often suggests long and arduous effort or severe disappointment.

fruitless efforts to obtain a lasting peace

Examples of vain in a Sentence

For a half a century, scholars have searched in vain for the source of the jade that the early civilizations of the Americas prized above all else and fashioned into precious objects of worship, trade and adornment. —William J. Broad, New York Times, 22 May 2002

… the miseries of people's lives ought not to be exploited ad libitum in the furtherance of our profits or our careers, and in the vain conviction that we understand everything. —Richard Taruskin, New Republic, 24 Dec. 2001

It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquillity: they must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it. —Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, 1847

Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us. —Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, 1813

Where words are scarce, they are seldom spent in vain … —William Shakespeare, King Richard the Second, 1596

She is very vain about her appearance.

He is the vainest man I know.

A vain effort to quell the public's fears only made matters worse.

Volunteers searched the area in the vain hope of finding clues.

Recent Examples on the Web

An aphid had flown into a spider web and tried in vain to escape from the sticky threads. —Alan Taylor, The Atlantic, 20 Nov. 2024

This reward is coming in from the universe to remind you that all of your inner work has not been done in vain. —Meghan Rose, Glamour, 1 Nov. 2024

MacArthur was a vain glory seeker, and his actions cost thousands of lives. —Smithsonian Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 Oct. 2024

The ability to articulate the struggle for decent food became another vain virtue signal. —Harmony Holiday, Los Angeles Times, 24 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English veyn "empty, futile, groundless, foolish, excessively proud," borrowed from Anglo-French vain, vein, going back to Latin vānus "lacking content, empty, illusory, marked by foolish or empty pride" — more at wane entry 1

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Phrases Containing vain

• take in vain

Kids Definition

vain

adjective

ˈvān 

1

: having no success : useless

a vain attempt to escape

2

: proud of one's looks or abilities

vainly adverb

vainness noun