Synonyms for vain
veɪnvain

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. vainadjective

   overly proud of oneself, especially when concerning appearance

   Synonyms:
   fruitless, futile, pointless, ineffectual

2. vainadjective

   having very little substance

   Synonyms:
   ineffectual, pointless, fruitless, futile

3. vainadjective

   effecting no purpose; pointless, futile.

   Synonyms:
   fruitless, ineffectual, futile, pointless

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:3.0 / 1 vote

1. vain

   Vain (Latin vanus, empty) keeps the etymological idea through all changes of meaning; a vain endeavor is empty of result, or of adequate power to produce a result, a vain pretension is empty or destitute of support, a vain person has a conceit that is empty or destitute of adequate cause or reason. That which is bootless, fruitless, or profitless fails to accomplish any valuable result; that which is abortive, ineffectual, or unavailing fails to accomplish a result that it was, or was supposed to be, adapted to accomplish. That which is useless, futile, or vain is inherently incapable of accomplishing a specified result. Useless, in the widest sense, signifies not of use for any valuable purpose, and is thus closely similar to valueless and worthless. Fruitless is more final than ineffectual, as applying to the sum or harvest of endeavor. That which is useless lacks actual fitness for a purpose; that which is vain lacks imaginable fitness. Compare VACANT; OSTENTATION; PRIDE.

   Compare synonyms for UTILITY.

   Synonyms:
   abortive, baseless, bootless, deceitful, delusive, empty, fruitless, futile, idle, inconstant, ineffectual, nugatory, null, profitless, shadowy, trifling, trivial, unavailing, unimportant, unprofitable, unreal, unsatisfying, unserviceable, unsubstantial, useless, vapid, visionary, worthless

   Antonyms:
   adequate, advantageous, beneficial, competent, effective, efficient, expedient, potent, powerful, profitable, real, serviceable, solid, sound, substantial, sufficient, useful, valid, valuable, worthy

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. vain

   Synonyms:
   empty, worthless, fruitless, unsatisfying, unavailing, idle, ineffectual, egotistic, showy, unreal, conceited, arrogant

   Antonyms:
   solid, substantial, sound, worthy, efficient, effectual, cogent, potent, unconceited, modest, real

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:5.0 / 2 votes

1. conceited, egotistic, egotistical, self-conceited, swollen, swollen-headed, vainadjective

   characteristic of false pride; having an exaggerated sense of self-importance

   "a conceited fool"; "an attitude of self-conceited arrogance"; "an egotistical disregard of others"; "so swollen by victory that he was unfit for normal duty"; "growing ever more swollen-headed and arbitrary"; "vain about her clothes"

   Synonyms:
   bootless, narcissistic, fruitless, swollen, self-loving, egotistic, swollen-headed, conceited, futile, sleeveless, egotistical, self-conceited

   Antonyms:
   humble, productive

2. bootless, fruitless, futile, sleeveless, vainadjective

   unproductive of success

   "a fruitless search"; "futile years after her artistic peak"; "a sleeveless errand"; "a vain attempt"

   Synonyms:
   unavailing, otiose, self-conceited, fruitless, egotistic, conceited, swollen-headed, futile, swollen, bootless, ineffectual, egotistical, sleeveless

   Antonyms:
   productive, humble

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. vainadjective

   Synonyms:
   unreal, shadowy, unsubstantial, supposititious, dreamy, baseless, imaginary, empty, void

2. vainadjective

   Synonyms:
   unavailing, useless, bootless, ineffectual, fruitless, profitless, futile, nugatory, abortive, unprofitable, without avail, idle, to no purpose, to no end

3. vainadjective

   Synonyms:
   worthless, unsatisfying, unsatisfactory, vapid, tasteless, insipid, flat, stale, mawkish

4. vainadjective

   Synonyms:
   conceited, vain-glorious, inflated, overweening, ostentatious, high, self-sufficient, flushed, opinionated, self-satisfied, self-confident, self-admiring, self-opinioned, self-flattering, high-flown, puffed up, wise in one's own conceit

5. vainadjective

   Synonyms:
   boastful, vaunting

6. vainadjective

   Synonyms:
   rodomontade, empty boasting

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:1.0 / 1 vote

1. vainadjective

   Synonyms:
   conceited, arrogant, egotistical, overweening, vainglorious, nugatory, fruitless, ineffectual, frustrate, unavailing, bootless, futile, abortive, ineffective, empty, delusive, chimerical, unsatisfying, unsubstantial, deceitful

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "vain":

   futile, conceited, fruitless, pointless, useless, unsuccessful, only, marl, unnecessary

Concise Medical Dictionary, by Joseph C Segen, MDRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. VAIN

   Synonyms:
   Vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia

2. VAIN

   Synonyms:
   Vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia

Suggested Resources

1. vain

   Song lyrics by vain -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by vain on the Lyrics.com website.

2. VAIN

   What does VAIN stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the VAIN acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.

How to pronounce vain?

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Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use vain in a sentence?

1. Dejan Stojanovic:

   It is vain futility to analyze the algebra of time.

2. Gregory Conley:

   The vaping industry has tried in vain for more than a decade to work with FDA on sensible manufacturing standards, only to be ignored while the agency recklessly vilified nicotine vaping. It is disappointing, but not at all surprising, that the FDA would wait to propose these regulations until it had already committed itself to banning 99.99 percent of the vaping market, the millions of Americans who rely on vaping to stay off cigarettes could benefit from the FDA’s proposal, but only if the agency stops thumbing its nose at its critics and starts to regulate the category in good faith.

3. Thomas Carlyle:

   No great man lives in vain. The history of the world is but the biography of great men.

4. Reynaldo Gonzalez:

   How many more innocent people need to die before Google, Facebook and Twitter are prohibited from making money by publishing messages from known terrorists? it is bad enough that I lost my daughter at the prime of her life, but to think that she died in vain is more disturbing.

5. Marc Broude:

   If your stories were real I would scream my dissolution amongst the searching soul; if wishes were not so unreal I would disappear, careless, in the wind; and if words were not all vain and meaningless I would tell everyone that life is a state of mind and we are nothing but what we have been told. If changing the world really meant something I would form a new fucking republic; and if truth existed I would kill philosophy; if god existed I would be scared.