Meaning

2 senses
  1. (idiomatic)Without success or a result; ending in failure.

    19th c., Friedrich Nietzsche On the mountains of truth you can never climb in vain.

    vergebens, vergeblich, umsonst

    напра́сноnaprásno, зряzrja, да́ромdárom

    ма́рноmárno, даре́мноdarémno, дарма́darmá

  2. (idiomatic)In a disrespectful manner, without honoring the proper meaning; insincerely or without proper respect.

    eitel, lästerlich, missbräuchlich

More definitions
  • to no avail

Examples

238 sentences
  1. All our efforts were in vain.

    Усі наші зусилля були марні. — deniko

    ruНаши хлопоты были напрасны. — Maksimo

    deUnsere Bemühungen waren vergeblich. — cost

  2. All their efforts were in vain.

    Всі їхні зусилля були марні. — deniko

    ruВсе их усилия были тщетными. — nami

    deAlle ihre Bemühungen waren vergebens. — Dejo

  3. I tried in vain to open it.

    Я марно намагався відкрити його. — deniko

    ruЯ тщетно пытался открыть его. — sharptoothed

    deIch habe vergeblich versucht, es aufzumachen. — Pfirsichbaeumchen

  4. We protested, but it was in vain.

    Ми протестували, але безрезультатно. — deniko

    ruМы протестовали, но безрезультатно. — odexed

    deWir protestierten, aber es war vergebens. — Dani6187

  5. All our attempts were in vain.

    ruВсе наши попытки были впустую. — corvard

    deAlle unsere Versuche waren vergeblich. — mayabe

Translations

9 languages
Українська
By meaning 1
without success:
Русский
By meaning 1
without success:
Deutsch
By meaning 2
without success:
disrespectful manner:

Forms

more in vain, most in vain
Comparativemore in vain Lesson
Superlativemost in vain

regular

Synonyms

1 synonyms
Close in meaning

See also

neighbours in the dictionary

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

in vain — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto