How to Use vain in a Sentence

vain

adjective
  • He is the vainest man I know.
  • Volunteers searched the area in the vain hope of finding clues.
  • A vain effort to quell the public's fears only made matters worse.
  • She is very vain about her appearance.
  • The last few hours were all in vain.
    — A.r. Carter, Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb. 2026
  • Their efforts were not in vain.
    — Literary Hub, 28 Jan. 2026
  • Yet the efforts so far have been in vain.
    — Kathryn Palmer, USA Today, 29 Oct. 2025
  • All her years playing cops were not in vain, though.
    — Kemi Alemoru, Glamour, 14 Mar. 2026
  • And, as the old church folk would say, our living shall not be in vain.
    — Danté Stewart, CNN, 18 Feb. 2022
  • Their calls for air support, which may have saved their lives, were in vain.
    — The Editorial Board, WSJ, 24 June 2021
  • The new search comes after years of looking in vain.
    — Eric Sullivan, Scientific American, 3 Dec. 2025
  • Search teams tried in vain but never found Sisof or her body.
    — Mark Thiessen, Anchorage Daily News, 27 Aug. 2020
  • My fathers were vain and feared being old.
    — Brontez Purnell, Harpers Magazine, 23 Nov. 2025
  • My fathers were vain and feared being old.
    — Brontez Purnell, Harpers Magazine, 23 Nov. 2025
  • But some suspect the attempts are in vain.
    — Evan Moore august 6, Charlotte Observer, 6 Aug. 2025
  • But her efforts were mostly in vain.
    — Emiliano Tahui Gómez, Austin American Statesman, 7 Sep. 2025
  • Thomas doesn't want her daughter to die in vain, either.
    — Nushrat Rahman, Freep.com, 9 Sep. 2025
  • Not in the sense of some vain idea of playing with people’s heads.
    — Seth Abramovitch, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Dec. 2024
  • Despite years of trying in vain, the pair had yet to have a child.
    — Nathan Smith, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Nov. 2023
  • Your granddaughters will love in vain.
    — Literary Hub, 4 Nov. 2025
  • The Dash, at any moment, may try in vain to dock again to change her fate.
    — Leanna Renee Hieber, Big Think, 2 Oct. 2025
  • Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain.
    — Lina Ruiz, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 Sep. 2025
  • But attempts by the sun to warm up the region will largely be in vain.
    — Gerry Díaz, San Francisco Chronicle, 2 Nov. 2022
  • For nearly as long, the rest have tried mostly in vain to compete.
    — Laura Forman, WSJ, 19 June 2020
  • Ravipudi told the parents that their daughter did not die in vain.
    — Los Angeles Times, 10 Jan. 2022
  • All is not only vanity; all is in vain.
    — Jill Lepore, New Yorker, 12 May 2026
  • Coming down here and making a choice to play was supposed to not be in vain.
    — Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY, 25 Aug. 2020
  • In vain, the fans hollered for their team to rally in the final seconds.
    — Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Oct. 2021
  • Critics of Lightfoot’s change tried in vain to roll it back that year.
    — Alice Yin, Chicago Tribune, 27 Feb. 2025
  • When that wait proved to be mostly in vain, Hatch prepared to move on.
    — Los Angeles Times, 17 Feb. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'vain.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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