vain
UK/veɪn/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Scotland/ven/
vain adjective: overly proud of oneself, especially concerning appearance; having a high opinion of one's own accomplishments with slight reason.
Adjective
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.
- Every writer is a narcissist. This does not mean that he is vain; it only means that he is hopelessly self-absorbed.1959, Leo Rosten, The return of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N
- Synonyms:
- conceited, flatulent, puffed up, inflated, airy, arrogant, chesty, authoritarian, biggity, big-headed
- Having no real substance, value, or importance; empty; void; worthless; unsatisfying.
- I will not hear thy vain excusec. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- Let no man deceive you with vain words.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ephesians 5:6
- Synonyms:
- idle, valueless, base, contemptible, floccinaucinihilipilificatious, foolish, for the birds, futile, frivolous, ignorable
- Effecting no purpose; pointless, futile.
- vain toil a vain attempt
- Vain is the force of man / To crush the pillars which the pile sustain.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
- Showy; ostentatious.
- 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, […]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
Verb
vain (third-person singular simple present vains, present participle vaining, simple past and past participle vained)
- To frustrate.
Noun capitalized: VAIN
VAIN (plural VAINs)
- Acronym of vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia.
vain meaning in Hindi, Sanskrit and Persian
vain in Hindi
- based on very little substance
- तुच्छ tucch
- pointless, futile
- व्यर्थ vyarth
vain in Sanskrit
- based on very little substance
- तुच्छ tuccha
vain in Persian
- overly proud of one's appearance
- ایفده ifode
Examples of vain in a sentence
- Their efforts were in vain and he succumbed to his injuries.
- His taking the name of God in vain was considered blasphemous.
- I felt around in my pockes for my keyring in vain.
Synonyms of vain
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- blustery
- turgescent
- boastful
- lordly
- bombastic
- cocky
- disdainful
- domineering
- egotistical
- entitled
- flaunting
- full of oneself
- grandiose
- hankty
- haughty
- high-handed
- high-hat
- high and mighty
- highfalutin
- hoity-toity
- holier-than-thou
- hubristic
- hubristical
- imperious
- insolent
- la-di-da
- ostentatious
- overbearing
- overweening
- pompous
Antonyms
Forms of vain
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | vainer |
| comparative | more vain |
| superlative | vainest |
| superlative | most vain |
| alternative form (obsolete) | wayn |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | vains |
| present participle | vaining |
| past participle | vained |
| past | vained |
| Noun | |
| plural | VAINs |
Origin of vain
From Middle English veyn, from Old French vain, from Latin vānus (“empty”).
A conversion of the adjectival form of vain. The only use of this verb in English appears c. 1628 in the writings of Owen Felltham.
Words formed from vain
Phrases with vain
Words that rhyme with vain
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- drain
- pane
- gain
- main
- sustain
- vein
- entertain
- skein
- Wayne
- abstain
- bane
- campaign
- champagne
- crane
- entrain
- fain
- insane
- maine
- pain
- plane
- stain
- wane
- Aquitaine
- ascertain
- chicane
- contain
- detain
- explain
- maintain
- mundane
- obtain
- refrain
- remain
- vane
- amain
- arcane
- Blaine
- complain
- deign
- detrain
- distrain
- kane
- ordain
- pertain
- profane
- public domain
- reign
- swain
Questions about vain
- What does vain mean?
- Vain means overly proud of oneself, especially concerning appearance; having a high opinion of one's own accomplishments with slight reason.
- What is vain in Hindi?
- Vain in Hindi is तुच्छ (tucch), व्यर्थ (vyarth). See Vain meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is vain?
- Vain can be an adjective, a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce vain?
- Vain is pronounced /veɪn/ (UK).
Words near vain in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: vain (page history and authors); 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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-vain.ogg.
Cite this entry: “vain.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/vain. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.