vainer; vainest
vainer; vainest
Learner's definition of VAIN
1
[also more vain; most vain] : too proud of your own appearance, abilities, achievements, etc. : conceited自負的;自視過高的 2
: having no success : not producing a desired result徒勞的;無結果的 -
They made a vain [=unsuccessful] attempt to escape.他們試圖逃跑,卻未成功。
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A vain effort to quell the public's fears only made matters worse.旨在消除公衆恐懼的努力毫無結果,反而把事情變得更糟了。
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Volunteers searched the area in the vain hope of finding clues.志願者搜索了這個區域,但想找到線索的希望卻落空了。
in vain
: without success : without producing a good or desired result徒勞無益;白費力氣 -
We searched in vain for the missing earring. [=we searched for the missing earring but did not find it]我們尋找丢失的耳環,不過是白費力氣。
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He tried in vain to get the baby to sleep.他努力想哄寶寶入睡,卻是徒勞一場。
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Her suffering will not be in vain. [=something good will happen because of her suffering]她不會白白受苦的。
take someone's name in vain
: to use (a name, especially the name of God) in a way that does not show proper respect濫用某人(尤指上帝)的名義