in vain

comparative more in vain · superlative most in vain

1. idiomaticWithout success or a result; ending in failure.

   19th c., Friedrich Nietzsche On the mountains of truth you can never climb in vain.

   4 more examples

   […]that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain[…]

   1863 November 19, Abraham Lincoln, Dedicatory Remarks (Gettysburg Address)^(https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Address_(Bliss_copy)), near Soldiers' National Cemetery, →LCCN, Bliss copy, page 2

   For some time Grannie tried in vain to comfort her.

   1956 [1880], Johanna Spyri, Heidi, translation of original by Eileen Hall, page 46

   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.

   1960 March, J. P. Wilson, E. N. C. Haywood, “The route through the Peak: Derby to Manchester. Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, page 149

   Knock me down, it's all in vain I get right back on my feet again

   1980, Eddie Schwartz, “Hit Me with Your Best Shot”, in Crimes of Passion, performed by Pat Benatar

2. idiomaticIn a disrespectful manner, without honoring the proper meaning; insincerely or without proper respect.

   That's fine. I know you won't engage your word in vain.

   2016, Alexandre Dumas, translated by Frank J. Morlock, The Count of Monte Cristo, Part IV (play), page 247

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   Thou ſhalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vaine:[…]

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 20:7, column 2

   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.

   1817, Sir Walter Scott, Rob Roy, published 2015, page 4

   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.

   2013, Mandy Merck, The Sexual Subject: Screen Reader in Sexuality

   This petition is the reverse side of the commandment against taking God's name in vain.

   2015, Kent Gramm, The Prayer of Jesus: A Reading of the Lord’s Prayer, page 69

   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.”

   2015, Jimmy R. Watson, Big Jesus: A Pastor’s Struggle with Christology, page 119

   Synonyms: vainly

comparative more in vain · superlative most in vain

1. idiomaticUnsuccessful, failed.

   Their efforts were in vain and he succumbed to his injuries.

   1 more example

   The problems concerning contrast induced hyperemia and the in vain efforts to search for a contrast agent not influencing flow […]

   2012, N.H. Pijls, Maximal Myocardial Perfusion as a Measure of the Functional Significance of Coronary Artery Disease