vainly
In a vain pursuit; to no availIn a vain pursuit; to no avail.
Recorded US: Neskaya, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
» She repeatedly tried to quit smoking, but vainly.
Она неоднократно пыталась бросить курить, но безуспешно. — marafon
Bernie75 · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRTranslations
4 languagesBy meaning 1
Examples
4 sentencesShe repeatedly tried to quit smoking, but vainly.
ruОна неоднократно пыталась бросить курить, но безуспешно. — marafon
He vainly tried to convince them of his innocence.
ruОн тщетно пытался убедить их в своей невиновности. — marafon
I vainly cherished the dream of living an infinite love by your side.
Meaning
2 sensesIn a vain pursuit; to no avail.
She searched vainly for her reflection in the shattered mirror.
напрасноnaprasno, тщетноtščetno, зряzrja
With a vain attitude; in a self-approving manner.
She stared vainly at her reflection in the mirror.
- to no avail
Origin
Inherited from Middle English vaynly, veynly, vaynely, veynely, equivalent to vain + -ly.Inherited from Middle English vaynly, veynly, vaynely, veynely, equivalent to vain + -ly.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
vainlier/more vainly, vainliest/most vainly| Comparative | vainlier / more vainly Lesson |
|---|---|
| Superlative | vainliest / most vainly |
regular
Synonyms
1 synonyms- to no avail:in vain
Word family
1 related wordsLessons for this word
2 lessons- A2Comparatives — Because it has a comparative form
- A2Adverbs of manner — Because it is an -ly adverb
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary 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.