vain
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
- wayn (obsolete)
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English, borrowed from Old French vain, from Latin vānus (“empty”)
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
vain (comparative vainer or more vain, superlative vainest or most vain)
- Overly proud of oneself, especially concerning appearance; having a high opinion of one's own accomplishments with slight reason.
- (Can we date this quote by Leo Rosten and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- Every writer is a narcissist. This does not mean that he is vain; it only means that he is hopelessly self-absorbed.
- (Can we date this quote by Leo Rosten and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- Having no real substance, value, or importance; empty; void; worthless; unsatisfying.
- c. 1590–1591, William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene i]:
- I will not hear thy vain excuse
- Bible, Ephesians v. 6
- Let no man deceive you with vain words.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book 2”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: Printed [by Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […] [a]nd by Robert Boulter […] [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: The Text Exactly Reproduced from the First Edition of 1667: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
- Vain wisdom all, and false philosophy.
- Effecting no purpose; pointless, futile.
- vain toil; a vain attempt
- (Can we date this quote by John Dryden and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- Vain is the force of man / To crush the pillars which the pile sustain.
- (Can we date this quote by William of Occam and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- It is vain to do with more what can be done with fewer.
- 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 6, in A Cuckoo in the Nest:
- But Sophia's mother was not the woman to brook defiance. After a few moments' vain remonstrance her husband complied. His manner and appearance were suggestive of a satiated sea-lion.
- Showy; ostentatious.
- 1731, Alexander Pope, Epistle to Burlington:
- Load some vain church with old theatric state.
SynonymsEdit
- (overly proud of oneself): conceited; puffed up; inflated
- (pointless): pointless, futile, fruitless, ineffectual
- See also Thesaurus:arrogant
- See also Thesaurus:futile
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
overly proud of one's appearance
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based on very little substance
pointless, futile
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Further readingEdit
- vain in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- vain in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911.
AnagramsEdit
DalmatianEdit
Alternative formsEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Latin vīnum. Compare Istriot veîn.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
vain m
FinnishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
- vaan (colloquial; also has other non-colloqial meanings)
EtymologyEdit
Cognate with vaan, Estonian vaid. Probably from va + -in or earlier equivalent.
PronunciationEdit
AdverbEdit
vain
- only, merely, exclusively, solely, just
- ever (when used with an interrogative pronoun)
- mikä vain, milloin vain (“whenever”)
- Synonym: tahansa
- An emphatic word used with the negative verb and -kö.
- Kävit siellä, etkö vain?
- You went there, didn't you?
- Tämä on se, eikö vain?
- This is it, right?
Derived termsEdit
AnagramsEdit
FrenchEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old French vain, from Latin vānus, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“empty”).
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
vain (feminine singular vaine, masculine plural vains, feminine plural vaines)
SynonymsEdit
Related termsEdit
Further readingEdit
- “vain” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
NormanEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Old French vain, from Latin vānus (“empty”).
AdjectiveEdit
vain m
Derived termsEdit
- vainement (“vainly”)