take someone's name in vain

verb

To speak insultingly about someone, especially behind their back.

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Meanings

verbtake someone's name in vain (third-person singular simple present takes someone's name in vain, present participle taking someone's name in vain, simple past took someone's name in vain, past participle taken someone's name in vain)

present singular third person takes someone's name in vain · participle present taking someone's name in vain · past took someone's name in vain · participle past taken someone's name in vain

  1. To speak insultingly about someone, especially behind their back.

    He never once took her name in vain among the fellows: and she had not been a very good girl, either.

    1887, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Jack the Fisherman, page 17
    4 more examples

    Hollywood honchos courted her, flattered her, showered her with gifts—and took her name in vain behind her back.

    2010, William J. Mann, How to Be a Movie Star: Elizabeth Taylor in Hollywood 1941-1981, Faber & Faber, →ISBN, page 55

    I took your name in vain, Mr. Mathias , in suggesting that we would have another good ally on the Appropriations Committee to get money for additional assistance down there.

    1977, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Antitrust and Monopoly, Oversight of Antitrust Enforcement: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Antitrust and Monopoly of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Ninety-fifth Congress, First Session ..., page 484

    I'm afeard I took your name in vain, awhile ago , young gentleman; but how could I tell you were hearkening to me ?”

    1851, William J. O'Neill Daunt, The Gentleman in Debt: A Novel, page 75

    All this bother is due to my interfering in matters which do not concern me but concern your W.D. Mrs. F. will make F. squint , I expect! I took your name in vain.

    1936, The National Review

Origin

By extension from the widely known religious proscription against taking the Lord's name in vain, that is, uttering it in ways that are gratuitous and irreverent, such as swearing oaths casually.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

take someone's name in vain. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/take%20someone's%20name%20in%20vain

MLA

“take someone's name in vain.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/take%20someone's%20name%20in%20vain. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “take someone's name in vain,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/take%20someone's%20name%20in%20vain.

Source: take someone's name in vain on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.