(superl.) Having no real substance, value, or importance; empty; void; worthless; unsatisfying.
(superl.) Destitute of forge or efficacy; effecting no purpose; fruitless; ineffectual; as, vain toil; a vain attempt.
(superl.) Proud of petty things, or of trifling attainments; having a high opinion of one's own accomplishments with slight reason; conceited; puffed up; inflated.
(superl.) Showy; ostentatious.
(n.) Vanity; emptiness; -- now used only in the phrase in vain.
Example Sentences:
(1) For example, if we purchase new examination equipment without any consideration or if we decide what type of equipment to introduce according to the common advice of the purchase committee of the hospital or the medical school, then we cannot design an ideal system of laboratory examinations and are forced to invest a large sum of money in vain.
(2) The George Bush campaign juggernaut hit the first serious pothole of its cash-fuelled drive to the presidency yesterday, as the Texas governor tried in vain to fend off questions about whether he had used cocaine as a young man.
(3) Full set list, show one (thanks to princevault.com ) Take Me With U (acoustic) Raspberry Beret (acoustic) U Got The Look (acoustic) Instrumental jam (acoustic) Train In Vain (acoustic) Q & A (1) incl.
(4) VaIN rarely is an isolated lesion and frequently is preceded by, or coexists with, other types of premalignant genital squamous neoplasia.
(5) He’s the kind of self-styled intellectual journalist in politics who caused so much trouble in 20th century politics, not a bad man, decent enough in his way, but not as smart as he thinks he is, vain with it.
(6) For long spells, West Ham searched in vain for inspiration as they tried to find a way past Newcastle United’s defence and end a run of three matches without a win.
(7) Further, in a vain attempt for a boost in the Hoosier State, Cruz unveiled former rival Carly Fiorina as his running mate if he receives the nomination and was able to cajole the state’s sitting governor, Mike Pence, into an endorsement.
(8) The next few days may well determine whether, this time, such loyalty will be in vain; but, while yearning for a clarion call and what was described as "vision" in this paper's leading article yesterday, I need to pose some pretty stark questions to Guardian readers.
(9) He aims to put his newspapers, including the Times and the Sun, behind a paywall, something described by the co-founder of Twitter, Biz Stone, as a vain attempt to "put the genie back in the bottle".
(10) In vain I argued that Robin Day seemed to wear the same jacket and shirt every week, and fled back to radio."
(11) Now I can feel that my son's blood wasn't totally lost in vain.
(12) In vain will Cameron plead that blame should lie with Brown and his Labour colleagues.
(13) At a media day held to mark the completion of the training and arranged before the tragedy, soldier after soldier came forward to insist that, though they were apprehensive, they were determined to do a good job, partly to make sure that their six colleagues had not died in vain.
(14) He somehow scrambled to deuce and delighted in forcing Dimitrov to chase in vain from one side of the court to the other to go 6-5 up.
(15) Assessment of patients between 9 and 99 (mean 55) months after partial colpectomy for VAIN showed no recurrence of disease in ten patients (83%).
(16) The scientific establishment struggled in vain to produce evidence that would reassure the public.
(17) No grieving wants to go through that, and our city doesn’t want to go through that.” Murphy said an accelerated program to equip Baltimore police officers with body cameras would mean Gray “did not die in vain”.
(18) His mother has said she tried in vain to get help for him.
(19) But he flailed in vain as the police officers grabbed him, one forcing his T-shirt roughly up over his head as three or four others laid in with their wooden batons, dragging and pushing him to a line of waiting Land Cruisers and more helmeted cops.
(20) As Steve spends half his money trying in vain to keep a scowl off Michelle's face and the rest comfort eating, Liz stumped up half the cash.
Wane
Definition:
(v. i.) To be diminished; to decrease; -- contrasted with wax, and especially applied to the illuminated part of the moon.
(v. i.) To decline; to fail; to sink.
(v. t.) To cause to decrease.
(n.) The decrease of the illuminated part of the moon to the eye of a spectator.
(1) These were not observed in area 5, although here the distribution of callosal neurons waxed and waned in the tangential cortical plane.
(2) Follow-up results from 10 controlled trials are consistent with waning of BCG protective efficacy with time since vaccination.
(3) Pharmacists are criticized for a failing sense of mission and a waning dependence on knowledge.
(4) The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic shows no sign of waning.
(5) Ferguson’s influence at Old Trafford has clearly waned since the Moyes appointment but, notably, there is no admission on his part that he chose the wrong man, insisting that the club followed a rigorous and methodical selection process.
(6) The wane in US power over the country it invaded eight years ago, coupled with a return to political prominence for Sadrists, seems to have been enough to lure Sadr back to Najaf, which he fled in 2004 after it was surrounded by US troops.
(7) Pretreatment with cyclophosphamide caused a delay in the development and waning of reactivity.
(8) Since then of course his popularity has waned, his net satisfaction rating is now negative.” The latest Newspoll has Labor ahead by two percentage points in two-party preferred terms (49% to 51%).
(9) It is suggested that the response of prenatally stimulated animals had waned before birth.
(10) After rising employment has failed to lift output as far as hoped, this reflects waning hopes about the potential of the UK economy once restored to full pelt.
(11) IL-2 production in soluble egg Ag-stimulated spleen cells of mice was detectable at 6, peaked at 8 and waned by 20 wk of the infection.
(12) High concentrations of cobratoxin depressed indirect twitches and endplate potentials (e.p.ps) without inducing waning of contractilities or run-down of trains of e.p.ps evoked at 10-100 Hz.
(13) The level of antigranulocyte antibody in the serum often begins to wane prior to improvement in the ANC and can give an indication of when recovery will begin to occur.
(14) We have already seen in this World Cup that European powers are on the wane.
(15) The effect began to appear in about 20 min after administration, the peak effect was attained in 120 min and later on this waned off completely by 24 h. The effect was similar in young (15 days) and in adult (70 days) rats.
(16) It is provisionally suggested that enhancement of the perseveration represents an innate response to stressful stimuli, but as animals learn mastery over the response contingencies, the persistence in adopting such a response strategy wanes.
(17) The placebo effect gradually waned, but the response to the active combination was maintained for the duration of the study.
(18) Other evidence is provided by the waning and waxing of gastritis, which has been correlated in several studies with clearance followed by recrudescence of the organisms.
(19) Yet Spurs' interest in Van Gaal has not waned even in light of Sherwood's impressive impact in his first senior management role.
(20) There have been suggestions in recent weeks that the US support for the Syrian non-extremist opposition is waning, and the US has reluctantly concluded that unwavering Russian support for Assad means the only way to oust Isis is by making cause with Russia and Assad.