Vain \Vain\ (v[=a]n), a. [Compar. Vainer; superl. Vainest.]
[F. vain, L. vanus empty, void, vain. Cf. Vanish, Vanity,
Vaunt to boast.]
1. Having no real substance, value, or importance; empty;
void; worthless; unsatisfying. "Thy vain excuse." --Shak.
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Every man walketh in a vain show. --Ps. xxxix.
6.
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Let no man deceive you with vain words. --Eph. v. 6.
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Vain pomp, and glory of this world, I hate ye!
--Shak.
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Vain wisdom all, and false philosophy. --Milton.
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2. Destitute of force or efficacy; effecting no purpose;
fruitless; ineffectual; as, vain toil; a vain attempt.
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Bring no more vain oblations. --Isa. i. 13.
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Vain is the force of man
To crush the pillars which the pile sustain.
--Dryden.
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3. Proud of petty things, or of trifling attainments; having
a high opinion of one's own accomplishments with slight
reason; conceited; puffed up; inflated.
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But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith apart
from works is barren? --James ii. 20
(Rev. Ver.).
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The minstrels played on every side,
Vain of their art. --Dryden.
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4. Showy; ostentatious.
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Load some vain church with old theatric state.
--Pope.
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Syn: Empty; worthless; fruitless; ineffectual; idle; unreal;
shadowy; showy; ostentatious; light; inconstant;
deceitful; delusive; unimportant; trifling.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Vain \Vain\, n.
Vanity; emptiness; -- now used only in the phrase
in vain.
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For vain. See In vain. [Obs.] --Shak.
In vain, to no purpose; without effect; ineffectually. " In
vain doth valor bleed." --Milton. " In vain they do
worship me." --Matt. xv. 9.
To take the name of God in vain, to use the name of God
with levity or profaneness.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
vain
adj 1: characteristic of false pride; having an exaggerated sense
of self-importance; "a conceited fool"; "an attitude
of self-conceited arrogance"; "an egotistical
disregard of others"; "so swollen by victory that he
was unfit for normal duty"; "growing ever more
swollen-headed and arbitrary"; "vain about her
clothes" [syn: conceited, egotistic, egotistical,
self-conceited, swollen, swollen-headed]
2: unproductive of success; "a fruitless search"; "futile years
after her artistic peak"; "a sleeveless errand"; "a vain
attempt" [syn: bootless, fruitless, futile, sleeveless]
WordNet (r) 2.0
147 Moby Thesaurus words for "vain":
Gascon, abortive, absurd, airy, arrogant, asinine, barren,
baseless, boastful, boasting, bootless, bootlessly, braggart,
bragging, catchpenny, cocky, complacent, conceited, consequential,
counterproductive, coxcombical, dandyish, delusive, delusory,
doomed, effete, egocentric, egoistic, egotistical, empty,
etiolated, fanfaron, fanfaronading, fatuitous, fatuous, feckless,
flimsy, foolish, foppish, foredoomed, fribble, fribbling,
frivolous, frothy, fruitless, fruitlessly, futile, futilely,
gasconading, groundless, haughty, hollow, idle, ill-founded,
improperly, in vain, inadequate, inane, ineffective, ineffectual,
inefficacious, inoperative, invalid, light, misleading, narcissan,
narcissine, narcissistic, narcistic, nugacious, nugatory,
of no force, otiose, overproud, overweening, paltry, petty,
pointless, profitless, proud, puny, self-admiring,
self-advertising, self-applauding, self-approving, self-assuming,
self-complacent, self-conceited, self-congratulating,
self-congratulatory, self-content, self-contented, self-delighting,
self-endeared, self-esteeming, self-flattering, self-glorious,
self-gratulating, self-gratulatory, self-important, self-lauding,
self-loving, self-respecting, self-satisfied, self-sufficient,
self-vaunting, shallow, silly, slender, slight, smug, sterile,
stuck-up, superficial, thrasonic, thrasonical, trifling, trite,
trivial, unavailable, unavailing, unbased, unfounded, ungrounded,
unproductive, unprofitable, unsuccessful, unsuccessfully,
unsupportable, unsupported, unsustainable, unsustained, untenable,
unwarranted, useless, vacuous, vainglorious, vainly, valueless,
vapid, vaporing, vaunting, void, windy, without basis,
without foundation, worthless
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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