0 having too much pride in one’s appearance, achievements etc; conceited -- forfængelig
She’s very vain about her looks.
1 unsuccessful -- forgæves
2 empty; meaningless -- nytteløs
vain promises.
vain threats
Your oath, my lord, is vain and frivolous.
Their main arguments were moral-theological: experimentation and the use of microscopes were vain and wicked.
In short, it was the moral type of the vain, the superficial and the narcissistic, and the only emotion it could inspire was 'contempt'.
In vain would they assemble for this purpose the wisest statisticians, the most expert merchants, the most skilled manufacturers, and the ablest administrators.
The vain pathos of the tortoises' courtship was reinforced by their superficial appearance.
Schlageter's life had thus been pointless, his death in vain.
The choice has been problematic and those familiar with the historic issues of the journal may search in vain for their favourites.
I looked in vain for the terms theropod, cynodont and perissodactyl and yet some 10% of the definitions are apparently devoted to palaeontology.
