Synonyms for vain
- adjective
Most common
futile fruitless unavailing useless conceited egotistical foolish tasteless
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Futile — effecting no purpose; pointless, futile
futile, fruitless, unavailing, useless, ineffectual, ineffective, unprofitable, unsuccessful, pointless, idle, void, empty, no-good, barren, abortive, unproductive, bootless, sterile, masturbatory, profitless, sleeveless, nugatory
2. Conceited — overly proud of oneself, especially concerning appearance; having a high opinion of one's own accomplishments…
conceited, egotistical, vainglorious, self-important, self-conceited, arrogant, ostentatious, proud, boastful, vapid, inflated, pretentious, overweening, haughty, pompous, self-satisfied, egotistic, stuck-up, narcissistic, foppish, smug, cocky
3. Foolish — having no real substance, value, or importance; empty; void; worthless; unsatisfying
foolish, worthless, trifling, trivial, silly, petty, frivolous, inane, paltry, groundless, valueless, baseless, flimsy, unimportant, fond, light, unfounded, null, slight, frothy, fatuous, puerile
Other
Definitions
- adj. 1
Overly proud of oneself, especially concerning appearance; having a high opinion of one's own accomplishments with slight reason.
- adj. 2
Having no real substance, value, or importance; empty; void; worthless; unsatisfying.
- adj. 3
Effecting no purpose; pointless, futile.
vain toil a vain attempt
- adj. 4
Showy; ostentatious.
Related words
- Word family
- vainly
- Phrases
- in vain
- Is a kind of
- coxcombical proud self-absorbed
Choose the right word
That which is useless, futile, or vain is inherently incapable of accomplishing a specified result. That which is useless lacks actual fitness for a purpose; that which is vain lacks imaginable fitness.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- useless There's nothing in here but a lot of useless junk.
- futile When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
- fruitless After three fruitless attempts, he tried one last time.
- unavailing All efforts have been unavailing.
- conceited Mary told Tom that she thought John was conceited.
- egotistical Santiago is too arrogant and egotistical to apologize.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| vain | steady | |
| useless | steady | |
| futile | steady | |
| fruitless | steady | |
| unavailing | steady | |
| conceited | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- void1, fond1, idle2, null1, smug1
- 5 letters
- light1, proud1, empty2, silly2, petty2, cocky2, brash1, showy2, inane2, vapid2
- 6 letters
- slight1, futile2, barren2, flimsy2, paltry2, frothy2
- 7 letters
- useless2, foolish2, trivial3, sterile2, pompous2, haughty2, puerile2, fatuous3, foppish, pizazzy
- 8 letters
- arrogant3, inflated3, baseless2, abortive3, trifling2, boastful2, bootless, nugatory4, delusive
- 9 letters
- pointless2, worthless2, frivolous3, unfounded3, fruitless2, tasteless2, conceited3, valueless3, egotistic
- 10 letters
- sleeveless2, groundless2, unavailing4, profitless
- 11 letters
- ineffective4, pretentious3, unimportant4, ineffectual5, egotistical5, overweening
- 12 letters
- unsuccessful4, narcissistic4, unproductive4, unprofitable5, ostentatious4, masturbatory, vainglorious
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (idle2 = 2 syllables).