Word.ws English Dictionary

taken someone's name in vain

taken someone's name in vain is the past participle of take someone's name in vain.

Meaning of take someone's name in vain

Verb

take someone's name in vain (third-person singular simple present takes someone's name in vain, present participle taking someone's name in vain, simple past took someone's name in vain, past participle taken someone's name in vain)

  1. To speak insultingly about someone, especially behind their back.
    • He never once took her name in vain among the fellows: and she had not been a very good girl, either.1887, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Jack the Fisherman, page 17

Questions about taken someone's name in vain

What is taken someone's name in vain the past participle of?
Taken someone's name in vain is the past participle of take someone's name in vain.

Words near taken someone's name in vain in the dictionary

  1. taken someone's arm
  2. taken someone's breath away
  3. taken someone's fancy
  4. taken someone's head off
  5. taken someone's life
  6. taken someone's name in vain
  7. taken someone's part
  8. taken someone's place
  9. taken someone's word for it
  10. taken something as it came
  11. taken something as read

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: taken someone's name in vain (page history and authors); take someone's name in vain (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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