# in vain
## English
### Pronunciation

* Audio (General Australian):(file)

### Adverb

in vain (comparative more in vain, superlative most in vain)
* (idiomatic) Without success or a result; ending in failure.
** 1863 November 19, Abraham Lincoln, Dedicatory Remarks (Gettysburg Address)‎, near Soldiers' National Cemetery, →LCCN, Bliss copy, page 2:[…] that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain […]
** 19th c., Friedrich Nietzsche
    On the mountains of truth you can never climb in vain.
** 1956 [1880], Johanna Spyri, Heidi, translation of original by Eileen Hall, page 46:For some time Grannie tried in vain to comfort her.
** 1960 March, J. P. Wilson, E. N. C. Haywood, “The route through the Peak: Derby to Manchester. Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, page 149:All these great plans were in vain, however, for in the cold dawn following the "Mania" years of 1845–46 the M.B.M. & M.J.R. project was truncated to an 11+$^1$⁄$_2$-mile line from Ambergate to Rowsley.
** 1980, Eddie Schwartz, “Hit Me with Your Best Shot”, in Crimes of Passion‎, performed by Pat Benatar:Knock me down, it's all in vain I get right back on my feet again
* (idiomatic) In a disrespectful manner, without honoring the proper meaning; insincerely or without proper respect.
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 20:7, column 2:Thou ſhalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vaine: […]
** 1817, Sir Walter Scott, Rob Roy, published 2015, page 4:Methinks I see him even now in my mind's eye;— the firm and upright figure,— the step, quick and determined, — the eye, which shot so keen and so penetrating a glance,— the features on which care had already planted wrinkles, and hear his language, in which he never wasted word in vain, expressed in a voice which had sometimes an occasional harshness, far from the intention of the speaker.
** 2013, Mandy Merck, The Sexual Subject: Screen Reader in Sexuality:A fetishist regime attempts to annul the separation of image and spectator, to reinstall an immediate relation that promises (in vain) to provide satisfaction to desire itself.
** 2015, Kent Gramm, The Prayer of Jesus: A Reading of the Lord’s Prayer, page 69:This petition is the reverse side of the commandment against taking God's name in vain.
** 2015, Jimmy R. Watson, Big Jesus: A Pastor’s Struggle with Christology, page 119:McLaren's task, it seems, is to set Jesus in a more appropriate and biblical context so that we won't use his name “in vain.”
** 2016, Alexandre Dumas, translated by Frank J. Morlock, The Count of Monte Cristo, Part IV (play), page 247:That's fine. I know you won't engage your word in vain.

#### Synonyms

* vainly

#### Related terms

* Richard of York gave battle in vain
* take someone's name in vain

#### Translations
### Adjective

in vain (comparative more in vain, superlative most in vain)
* (idiomatic) Unsuccessful, failed.
    Their efforts were in vain and he succumbed to his injuries.
** 2012, N.H. Pijls, Maximal Myocardial Perfusion as a Measure of the Functional Significance of Coronary Artery Disease‎:The problems concerning contrast induced hyperemia and the in vain efforts to search for a contrast agent not influencing flow […]

#### Translations
### References

* “in vain”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.