vain

[vein]

adj.自负的, 徒劳的, 无效的, 虚荣的

a.

1. 爱虚荣的, 自负的, 炫耀的

She is vain and extravagant.

她既爱虚荣又奢侈。

2. 徒然的, 无益的

They made vain attempts to reach the mountaintop.

他们做了几次想登上山顶的徒然尝试。

3. 【书】空虚的, 无意义的, 无价值的

词形变化

副词: vainly | 形容词比较级: vainer | 形容词最高级: vainest | 名词: vainness |

词义辨析

同义:

a.徒然的, 无益的

unsuccessful  ineffectual  futile  fruitless

a.爱虚荣的, 自负的

proud  conceited  boastful  egotistical  egocentric  haughty  lofty  self-centered  

同义参见:

worthless  idle  smug  consequential  abortive  negative  

反义:

a.徒然的; 空虚的

effectual  effective  

反义参见:

useful  beneficial  shy  

英英释义

形容词 vain:

characteristic of false pride; having an exaggerated sense of self-importance

同义词：conceited, egotistic, egotistical, self-conceited, swollen, swollen-headed

unproductive of success

同义词：bootless, fruitless, futile, sleeveless

短语词组

in vain

1. 徒劳

Their efforts were not in vain.

他们的努力没白费。

补充

vainvain英:[vein] 美:[ven]adj.1.自负的; 爱慕虚荣的She is one of those vain people who never take others' advice.她属于那种自负得从不听别人劝告的人。I don't like a vain woman.我讨厌爱慕虚荣的女人。He's very vain of his abilities.他对于自己的能力很自负。2.徒劳的, 无用的, 无效的He made a vain attempt to reach the drowning child.他试图接近那个快淹死的小孩, 但没有成功。All my efforts were vain.我的一切努力都白费了。It is vain to resist.抵抗是没用的。

例句

1. I think he is shallow and vain.我认为他是一个浅薄虚荣的人。 2. He's so vain!他太自负了！ 3. He searched everywhere in the vain hope that he had simply mislaid it.他到处搜寻, 幻想自己只是忘了把它放在哪儿了。 4. their flattery made him vain.他们的吹捧使他自命不凡。 5. a vain attempt to tidy up the room.徒劳的打扫房间。 6. the vain hope of finding work.找到工作的落空希望。 7. a vain boast.徒劳的自夸。 8. they waited in vain for a response.他们白等回音。 9. He's so vain -- he looks in every mirror he passes.他很爱虚荣，每经过一面镜子都要照一照。 10. The firemen tried in vain to put out the fire.消防员尝试扑灭那场火，可惜徒劳无功。 11. She is very vain about her appearance.她对自己的容貌颇为自负。 12. He is the vainest man I know.他是我认识的最清高的人。 13. They made a vain [=unsuccessful] attempt to escape.他们试图逃跑，却未成功。 14. A vain effort to quell the public's fears only made matters worse.旨在消除公众恐惧的努力毫无结果，反而把事情变得更糟了。 15. Volunteers searched the area in the vain hope of finding clues.志愿者搜索了这个区域，但想找到线索的希望却落空了。 16. We searched in vain for the missing earring. [=we searched for the missing earring but did not find it]我们寻找丢失的耳环，不过是白费力气。 17. He tried in vain to get the baby to sleep.他努力想哄宝宝入睡，却是徒劳一场。 18. Her suffering will not be in vain. [=something good will happen because of her suffering]她不会白白受苦的。 19. He took God's name in vain.他妄称上帝之名。 20. (humorous) I thought I heard someone taking my name in vain. [=saying my name]我觉得我听到了有人在说我的名字。 21. We tried vainly to get a taxi.我们想找辆出租车，却没有找到。 22. Volunteers vainly searched for clues.志愿者们到处搜寻线索，却是徒劳。