vain
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]From Middle English veyn, from Old French vain, from Latin vānus (“empty”).
Adjective
[edit]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.
- Synonyms: conceited, flatulent, puffed up, inflated; see also Thesaurus:arrogant, Thesaurus:vain
- 1959, Leo Rosten, The return of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N:
- Every writer is a narcissist. This does not mean that he is vain; it only means that he is hopelessly self-absorbed.
- Having no real substance, value, or importance; empty; void; worthless; unsatisfying.
- Synonyms: idle; see also Thesaurus:insignificant
- c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
- I will not hear thy vain excuse
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ephesians 5:6:
- Let no man deceive you with vain words.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
- Vain wisdom all, and false philosophy.
- Effecting no purpose; pointless, futile.
- Synonyms: pointless, futile, fruitless, ineffectual; see also Thesaurus:futile
- vain toil a vain attempt
- 1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
- Vain is the force of man / To crush the pillars which the pile sustain.
- 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XXX, page 48:
- At our old pastimes in the hall
We gambol’d, making vain pretence
Of gladness, with an awful sense
Of one mute Shadow watching all.
- 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 6, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
- 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.
- Synonyms: brash, pizazzy; see also Thesaurus:gaudy
- 1735, Alexander Pope, “Epistle 4”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume II, London: […] J. Wright, for Lawton Gilliver […], →OCLC, page 40, lines 25–30:
- Yet ſhall (my Lord) your juſt, your noble Rules / Fill half the land with imitating Fools: / VVho random dravvings from your ſheets ſhall take, / And of one beauty many blunders make; / Load ſome vain Church with old Theatric State, / Turn Arcs of Triumph to a Garden-gate, […]
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]overly proud of one's appearance
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based on very little substance
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pointless, futile
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Etymology 2
[edit]A converstion of the adjectival form of vain. The only use of this verb in English appears c. 1628 in the writings of Owen Felltham.
Verb
[edit]vain (third-person singular simple present vains, present participle vaining, simple past and past participle vained)
- (transitive, rare, dated, obsolete) To frustrate. (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)
Further reading
[edit]- “vain”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “vain”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “vain”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Anagrams
[edit]Dalmatian
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Latin vīnum. Compare Istriot veîn.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]vain m
Finnish
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]- vaan (colloquial, all senses; also has other non-colloquial meanings)
Etymology
[edit]Probably an old instructive plural of the stem vaja- (*vajin). Cognate with Estonian vaid.
Pronunciation
[edit]Adverb
[edit]vain
- only, merely, exclusively, solely, just
- Olen vain ihminen.
- I am just/only a human.
- Paita maksoi vain kaksi euroa.
- The shirt cost just/only two euros.
- ever (when used with an interrogative pronoun)
- Synonym: tahansa
- mikä vain ― whatever
- milloin vain ― whenever
- 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?
- (with a verb in imperative) go ahead, be my guest (in positive); definitely (in negative)
Derived terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “vain”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish][1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-04
Anagrams
[edit]French
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Inherited from Old French vain, from Latin vānus, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“empty”).
Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]vain (feminine vaine, masculine plural vains, feminine plural vaines)
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “vain”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Norman
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Old French vain, from Latin vānus (“empty”).
Adjective
[edit]vain m
Derived terms
[edit]- vainement (“vainly”)
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