Vain
[veɪn] or [ven]
Definition
(superl.) Having no real substance, value, or importance; empty; void; worthless; unsatisfying.
(superl.) Destitute of forge or efficacy; effecting no purpose; fruitless; ineffectual; as, vain toil; a vain attempt.
(superl.) Proud of petty things, or of trifling attainments; having a high opinion of one's own accomplishments with slight reason; conceited; puffed up; inflated.
(superl.) Showy; ostentatious.
(n.) Vanity; emptiness; -- now used only in the phrase in vain.
Inputed by Gavin
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Unreal, shadowy, unsubstantial, supposititious, dreamy, baseless, imaginary, empty, void.[2]. Unavailing, useless, bootless, ineffectual, fruitless, profitless, futile, nugatory, abortive, unprofitable, without avail, idle, to no purpose, to no end.[3]. Worthless, unsatisfying, unsatisfactory, vapid, tasteless, insipid, flat, stale, mawkish.[4]. Conceited, vain-glorious, inflated, overweening, ostentatious, high, self-sufficient, flushed, opinionated, self-satisfied, self-confident, self-admiring, self-opinioned, self-flattering, high-flown, puffed up, wise in one's own conceit.
Typed by Felix
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Empty, worthless, fruitless, unsatisfying, unavailing, idle, ineffectual,egotistic, showy, unreal, conceited, arrogant
ANT:Solid, substantial, sound, worthy, efficient, effectual, cogent, potent,unconceited, modest, real
Inputed by Leila
Definition
adj. unsatisfying: fruitless: unreal: silly: conceited: showy: (B.) vacant worthless.—adv. Vain′ly.—ns. Vain′ness fruitlessness: (Shak.) empty pride folly; Van′ity worthlessness futility: empty pride or ostentation: ambitious display: idle show: empty pleasure: fruitless desire a trifle: (Shak.) a personified vice in the old moralities and puppet-shows: (B.) a heathen deity.—Vanity Fair the world as the scene of vanity or empty folly the world of fashion so named from the fair described in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.—In vain For vain (Shak.) ineffectually: to no end: with levity or profanity.
Checker: Quincy
Examples
- It was in vain for Annie to protest that she was weary of such things. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- Where Judy Trenor led, all the world would follow; and Lily had the doomed sense of the castaway who has signalled in vain to fleeing sails. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- I'll try not to be vain, said Amy. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- Men are vain of the beauty of their country, of their county, of their parish. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- Vain, ignorant, idle, and absolutely uncontrolled! Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- Miss Ophelia hastened into the room, and tried to raise and silence her; but in vain. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- If it were as you say, what could be sadder than so much ardent labor all in vain? George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Yes, let us eat our fill of the vain thing and be thankful therefor. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- The effort has been in vain. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- I have thought about it too, and thought in vain. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- My dear, said the cotton-tassel in defence of his conduct, Jos is a great deal vainer than you ever were in your life, and that's saying a good deal. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
Editor: Lucius