vain

adj., vain·er, vain·est.

1. Not yielding the desired outcome; fruitless: a vain attempt.
2. Lacking substance or worth: vain talk.
3. Excessively proud of one's appearance or accomplishments; conceited.
4. Archaic. Foolish.

idiom:

in vain

1. To no avail; without success: Our labor was in vain.
2. In an irreverent or disrespectful manner: took the Lord's name in vain.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin vānus, empty.]

vainly vain'ly adv.
vainness vain'ness n.

SYNONYMS   vain, empty, hollow, idle, nugatory, otiose. These adjectives mean lacking value or substance: vain regrets; empty pleasures; hollow threats; idle dreams; nugatory commentaries; an otiose belief in alchemy. See also synonyms at futile.

adjective

1. Having no useful result: barren, bootless, fruitless, futile, unavailing, unprofitable, unsuccessful, useless. Idioms: in vain. See thrive/fail/exist, used/unused.
2. Lacking value, use, or substance: empty, hollow, idle, otiose, vacant. See full/empty/capacity.
3. Unduly preoccupied with one's own appearance: conceited, narcissistic. See self-love/modesty.
4. Thinking too highly of oneself: conceited, egoistic, egoistical, egotistic, egotistical, narcissistic, vainglorious. Informal bigheaded, stuck-up, swellheaded. See self-love/modesty.

adj

Definition: egotistical
Antonyms: modest, shy

adj

Definition: futile, useless
Antonyms: possible

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IN BRIEF: Having a high opinion of oneself. Also: Useless.

Often the hands will solve a mystery that the intellect has struggled with in vain. — Carl Jung (1875-1961).

Tutor's tip: Other words that sounds like vain which means useless or having a high opinion of oneself, are vein which is a kind of blood vessel and vane which is a part of a propeller.

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Dansk (Danish)
adj. - forgæves, tom, frugtesløs, forfængelig, pralende

idioms:

• in vain    forgæves
• take a person's name in vain    misbruge en persons navn, tage en persons navn forfængeligt

Nederlands (Dutch)
vruchteloos, ijdel, waardeloos

Français (French)
adj. - vaniteux, vain, futile

idioms:

• in vain    en vain
• take someone's name in vain    parler de qn derrière son dos (hum)

Deutsch (German)
adj. - eitel, leer, eingebildet, vergeblich

idioms:

• in vain    vergebens, vergeblich
• take someone's name in vain    den Namen von jdm. mißbrauchen

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - άκαρπος, μάταιος, ματαιόδοξος, φιλάρεσκος

idioms:

• in vain    εις μάτην, του κάκου, μάταια
• take a person's name in vain    πιάνω στο στόμα μου κάποιον (για πλάκα, αστείο)

Italiano (Italian)
vano, presuntuoso, vanitoso

idioms:

• in vain    invano
• take a person's name in vain    parlar male di

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - vão, vaidoso
n. - vão (m)

idioms:

• in vain    em vão, inutilmente
• take a person's name in vain    tomar o nome em vão

Русский (Russian)
бесполезный, пустой, тщеславие, тщетный, суетный, самодовольный

idioms:

• in vain    напрасно, безрезультатно
• take a person's name in vain    ссылаться на кого-либо без оснований, спекулировать чьим-то именем

Español (Spanish)
adj. - vano, inútil, presumido, vanidoso, ostentoso

idioms:

• in vain    en vano
• take someone's name in vain    usar el nombre de alguien a la ligera o en forma irrespetuosa

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - fåfäng, gagnlös, tom, inbilsk

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
徒然的, 空虚的, 虚荣的

idioms:

• in vain    徒劳
• take a person's name in vain    滥用某人的名义, 亵渎某人的名字, 轻慢地提到某人的名字

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 徒然的, 空虛的, 虛榮的

idioms:

• in vain    徒勞
• take a person's name in vain    濫用某人的名義, 褻瀆某人的名字, 輕慢地提到某人的名字

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 하찮은, 실속이 없는, 자만심이 강한

idioms:

• in vain    헛되이, 경솔하게, 함부로
• take a person's name in vain    누군가의 이름을 함부로 쓰다

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 虚栄心の強い, 自慢する, 無駄な, 空虚な

idioms:

• in vain    むなしく, 無駄に, 軽々しく, みだりに

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) باطل, فاشل‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮שחצן, יהיר, מנופח, שווא, חסר-תועלת, שעלה בתוהו, ריק, הבלי‬

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