| 单词 | vain |
| 释义 | vain (veɪn ) Word forms: vainer , vainest 1. adjective [ADJECTIVE noun] A vain attempt or action is one that fails to achieve what was intended. The drafting committee worked through the night in a vain attempt to finish on schedule. I was singing in a vain effort to cheer him up. Synonyms: futile, useless, pointless, unsuccessful vainly adverb [ADVERB with verb] He hunted vainly through his pockets for a piece of paper. 2. adjective [ADJECTIVE noun] If you describe a hope that something will happen as a vain hope, you mean that there is no chance of it happening. He glanced around in the vain hope that there were no witnesses. vainly adverb [ADVERB with verb] He then set out for Virginia for what he vainly hoped would be a peaceful retirement. 3. adjective If you describe someone as vain, you are critical of their extreme pride in their own beauty, intelligence, or other good qualities. [disapproval] I think he is shallow, vain and untrustworthy. 4. in vain phrase If you do something in vain, you do not succeed in achieving what you intend. He stopped at the door, waiting in vain for her to acknowledge his presence. It became obvious that all her complaints were in vain. Synonyms: uselessly, to no avail, unsuccessfully, fruitlessly 5. in vain phrase If you say that something such as someone's death, suffering, or effort was in vain, you mean that it was useless because it did not achieve anything. He wants the world to know his son did not die in vain. Idioms: take God's name in vain or take the Lord's name in vain to use God's name disrespectfully, especially by swearing He persevered, and always gently corrected us when we took the Lord's name in vain. Easy Learning Idioms Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers take someone's or something's name in vain to use another person's or a thing's name for your own purposes in an inappropriate or disrespectful way Let's remember that what we do from this point is being done in the name of justice. Let's not take her name in vain. Easy Learning Idioms Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers Collocations: vain effort The companay found that while traditional restaurants were having to cut prices in a desperate and often vain effort to win back custom, takeaways were enjoying a boom. Times, Sunday Times If we were all to make charitable contributions at the same time, say, as we did our tax returns, a lot of vain effort would be saved. Times, Sunday Times In a vain effort to protect themselves, some of the miners tried to cover their faces with jackets or other pieces of cloth. Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0 He attempted to fend them off, however, this was a vain effort as there were too many attackers, and he was gravely injured. Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0 It was characterized by an under-current of discontent with the mystery of existence, by vain effort, unrewarded struggle, sceptical unrest, and an uneasy straining after the unattainable. Retrieved from Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0 Translations: Chinese: 徒然的, 徒劳的 Japanese: うぬぼれの強い, 無駄な |
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