Vain1. (superl.) Having no real substance, value, or importance; empty; void; worthless; unsatisfying.
2. (superl.) Destitute of forge or efficacy; effecting no purpose; fruitless; ineffectual; as, vain toil; a vain attempt.
3. (superl.) Proud of petty things, or of trifling attainments; having a high opinion of one's own accomplishments with slight reason; conceited; puffed up; inflated.
4. (superl.) Showy; ostentatious.
5. (n.) Vanity; emptiness; -- now used only in the phrase in vain.
Thesaurus Entries
Gascon, abortive, absurd, airy, arrogant, asinine, barren, baseless, boastful, boasting, bootless, bootlessly, braggart, bragging, catchpenny, cocky, complacent, conceited, consequential, counterproductive, coxcombical, dandyish, delusive, delusory, doomed, effete, egocentric, egoistic, egotistical, empty, etiolated, fanfaron, fanfaronading, fatuitous, fatuous, feckless, flimsy, foolish, foppish, foredoomed, fribble, fribbling, frivolous, frothy, fruitless, fruitlessly, futile, futilely, gasconading, groundless, haughty, hollow, idle, ill-founded, improperly, in vain, inadequate, inane, ineffective, ineffectual, inefficacious, inoperative, invalid, light, misleading, narcissan, narcissine, narcissistic, narcistic, nugacious, nugatory, of no force, otiose, overproud, overweening, paltry, petty, pointless, profitless, proud, puny, self-admiring, self-advertising, self-applauding, self-approving, self-assuming, self-complacent, self-conceited, self-congratulating, self-congratulatory, self-content, self-contented, self-delighting, self-endeared, self-esteeming, self-flattering, self-glorious, self-gratulating, self-gratulatory, self-important, self-lauding, self-loving, self-respecting, self-satisfied, self-sufficient, self-vaunting, shallow, silly, slender, slight, smug, sterile, stuck-up, superficial, thrasonic, thrasonical, trifling, trite, trivial, unavailable, unavailing, unbased, unfounded, ungrounded, unproductive, unprofitable, unsuccessful, unsuccessfully, unsupportable, unsupported, unsustainable, unsustained, untenable, unwarranted, useless, vacuous, vainglorious, vainly, valueless, vapid, vaporing, vaunting, void, windy, without basis, without foundation, worthless