In vain definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary

If you do something in vain, you do not succeed in achieving what you intend. He stopped at the door, waiting in vain for her to acknowledge his presence. It ... EnglishDictionary Thesaurus WordLists Grammar EnglishEasyLearningGrammar GrammarPatterns EnglishUsage TeachingResources VideoGuides Conjugations Quiz Englishgrammar Englishcollocations Englishconfusables Englishidioms Englishusage Thematicwordlists English French German Italian Spanish Portuguese Hindi Chinese Definitionof 'invain'    WordFrequency Share× Credits× invain phrase Ifyoudosomethinginvain,youdonotsucceedinachievingwhatyouintend. Hestoppedatthedoor,waitinginvainforhertoacknowledgehispresence. Itbecameobviousthatallhercomplaintswereinvain. Synonyms:uselessly,tonoavail,unsuccessfully,fruitlessly MoreSynonymsofinvain SeefulldictionaryentryforvainCOBUILDAdvancedEnglishDictionary.Copyright©HarperCollinsPublishers WordFrequency invain phrase Ifyousaythatsomethingsuchassomeone'sdeath,suffering,oreffortwasinvain,youmeanthatitwasuselessbecauseitdidnotachieveanything. Hewantstheworldtoknowhissondidnotdieinvain. SeefulldictionaryentryforvainCOBUILDAdvancedEnglishDictionary.Copyright©HarperCollinsPublishers Youmayalsolike EnglishQuizConfusables Synonymsof'invain' LanguageLover'sBlog FrenchTranslationof'invain' Translateyourtext PronunciationPlaylists Wordoftheday:'hygge' NEWfromCollins! EnglishGrammar CollinsApps WordFrequency invaininBritishEnglish tonoavail;fruitlessly SeefulldictionaryentryforvainCollinsEnglishDictionary.Copyright©HarperCollinsPublishers WordFrequency invaininAmericanEnglish 1.  fruitlessly;vainly 2.  lightly;profanely;irreverently SeefulldictionaryentryforvainWebster’sNewWorldCollegeDictionary,4thEdition.Copyright©2010by HoughtonMifflinHarcourt.Allrightsreserved. WordFrequency invaininAmericanEnglish a. withouteffectoravail;tonopurpose toapologizeinvain b. inanimproperorirreverentmanner totakeGod'snameinvain SeefulldictionaryentryforvainMostmaterial©2005,1997,1991byPenguinRandomHouseLLC.Modifiedentries©2019 byPenguinRandomHouseLLCandHarperCollinsPublishersLtd Examplesof'invain'inasentence invain Theseexampleshavebeenautomaticallyselectedandmaycontainsensitivecontent.Readmore… Allthoseyearsofsufferingandshameweren'tinvain.TheSun(2016)Theyhuntedforfivedaysinvainsotheowneremailedcarparkfirms,buttonoavail.TheSun(2017)Weknowthattheirdeathswerenotinvain.TheSun(2009)Mileswillnothavediedinvain.TheSun(2016)Whentheyfinallyrealisesucheffortsareinvaintheyfulfilthembyrotethroughgrittedteeth.Times,SundayTimes(2006)Buthewaswatchingfromthebenchashissuperstarunderstudytriedinvaintorecapturepastglories.TheSun(2014)Washerdeathinvain?TheSun(2009)Andhecouldwellbeassigningthemanotherfortnight'sworthofstudiesasheattemptsinvaintosortouthisbunchofdonkeys.TheSun(2015) Trendsof invain Viewusagefor: AllYears Last10years Last50years Last100years Last300years Browsealphabetically invain inutero inuterosurgery invacuo invain inventer inview inviewof AllENGLISHwordsthatbeginwith'I' Relatedtermsof invain takeGod'snameinvain takesomeone'snameinvain takesomeone'sorsomething'snameinvain Source DefinitionofinvainfromtheCollinsEnglishDictionary NewfromCollins QuickwordchallengeQuizReviewQuestion:1 - Score:0/5 beach or beech?Dragthecorrectanswerintothebox. beach beechWesetoffforadayatthe .peal or peel?Whichversioniscorrect?Churchbellspealeverynightatmidnight.Churchbellspeeleverynightatmidnight.waist or waste?Whichversioniscorrect?Thepacketsaremeasuredtoreducewaist.Thepacketsaremeasuredtoreducewaste.allowed or aloud?Whichversioniscorrect?Whenwewerechildren,ourfatherreadallowedtous.Whenwewerechildren,ourfatherreadaloudtous.idle or idol?Whichversioniscorrect?Thesefactorieshavebeenlyingidleforyears.Thesefactorieshavebeenlyingidolforyears.Yourscore:CheckSeetheanswerNextNextquizReview Dec08,2021 Wordoftheday hygge thepracticeofcreatingcosyandcongenialenvironmentsthatpromoteemotionalwellbeing SEEFULLDEFINITION SEEPREVIOUSWORDS Signupforournewsletter Getthelatestnewsandgainaccesstoexclusiveupdatesandoffers Signmeup LatestWordSubmissions petridish(sense) Nov29,2021 intergluteal Nov29,2021 HOGO Nov29,2021 Amazigh Nov29,2021 ViewMoreSubmit Omicron:Whatisit? InMay2021,theWorldHealthOrganisation(WHO)announcedthatCOVID-19variantswouldbelabelledusinglettersoftheGreekalphabet.Whyisthatanyway? Readmore CollinsWordoftheYear2021isNFT Theconvergenceofmoneyandtheinternetleadsusto2021’swordoftheyear:NFT.Anabbreviationthatstandsfor“non-fungibletoken”, Readmore BonfireorGuyFawkesNight Onthenightof4November1605GuyFawkes,aCatholic,wasdiscoveredinanundercroftoftheHouseofLordsguardingahoardofgunpowderintendedtoexplodethefollowingdayatthestateopeningofParliamentandtherebyassassinatetheProtestantKingJamesIandannihilatethegovernment. Readmore CollinsEnglishDictionaryApps DownloadourEnglishDictionaryapps-availableforbothiOSandAndroid. Readmore CollinsDictionariesforSchools Ournewonlinedictionariesforschoolsprovideasafeandappropriateenvironmentforchildren.Andbestofallit'sadfree,sosignupnowandstartusingathomeorintheclassroom. Readmore Wordlists Wehavealmost200listsofwordsfromtopicsasvariedastypesofbutterflies,jackets,currencies,vegetablesandknots! 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Readmore QuickwordchallengeQuizReviewQuestion:1 - Score:0/5 blame or fault?Whichversioniscorrect?ThiswasallJack'sblame.ThiswasallJack'sfault.classic or classical?Whichversioniscorrect?Heisanaccomplishedclassicpianist.Heisanaccomplishedclassicalpianist.great or large?Whichversioniscorrect?Manyspeciesareingreatdanger.Manyspeciesareinlargedanger.brand or make?Whichversioniscorrect?Thisisaverypopularbrandofbike.Thisisaverypopularmakeofbike.comic or comical?Dragthecorrectanswerintothebox. comic comicalHeisagreat actor.Yourscore:CheckSeetheanswerNextNextquizReview CreateanaccountandsignintoaccessthisFREEcontent Registernoworlogintoaccess LANGUAGE English EnglishDictionary Thesaurus WordLists Grammar EnglishEasyLearningGrammar GrammarPatterns EnglishUsage TeachingResources VideoGuides Conjugations Quiz Englishgrammar Englishcollocations Englishconfusables Englishidioms Englishusage Thematicwordlists French EnglishtoFrench FrenchtoEnglish Grammar Conjugations Quiz German EnglishtoGerman GermantoEnglish Grammar Conjugations Quiz Italian EnglishtoItalian ItaliantoEnglish Grammar Conjugations Quiz Spanish EnglishtoSpanish SpanishtoEnglish Grammar Conjugations Quiz Portuguese EnglishtoPortuguese PortuguesetoEnglish Conjugations Hindi EnglishtoHindi HinditoEnglish Chinese EnglishtoChinese ChinesetoEnglish Quiz TRANSLATOR GAMES Quiz Englishgrammar Englishcollocations Englishconfusables Englishidioms Englishusage Thematicwordlists Frenchgrammar Germangrammar Italiangrammar MandarinChinesecharacters Spanishgrammar Scrabble ScrabbleHome Wordchecker Help Tools SCHOOLS HomeSchool PrimarySchool SecondarySchool BLOG RESOURCES Resources CollinsWordoftheDay PaulNobleMethod VideoPronunciations WordoftheYear