"vainly" meaning in English

See vainly in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adverb

IPA: /ˈveɪnli/ [General-American] Audio: en-us-vainly.ogg Forms: vainlier [comparative], more vainly [comparative], vainliest [superlative], most vainly [superlative]
Rhymes: -eɪnli Etymology: Inherited from Middle English vaynly, veynly, vaynely, veynely, equivalent to vain + -ly. Etymology templates: {{glossary|Inherited}} Inherited, {{inh|en|enm|vaynly|||g=|g2=|g3=|id=|lit=|nocat=|pos=|sc=|sort=|tr=|ts=}} Middle English vaynly, {{inh+|en|enm|vaynly}} Inherited from Middle English vaynly, {{suf|en|vain|ly|id2=adverbial}} vain + -ly Head templates: {{en-adv|er|more}} vainly (comparative vainlier or more vainly, superlative vainliest or most vainly)
  1. In a vain pursuit; to no avail.
    Sense id: en-vainly-en-adv-HS0b7Otp Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -ly (adverbial), Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Catalan translations, Terms with Esperanto translations, Terms with Hungarian translations, Terms with Old Church Slavonic translations, Terms with Plautdietsch translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Spanish translations, Terms with Turkish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 87 13 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -ly (adverbial): 71 29 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 95 5 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 93 7 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 96 4 Disambiguation of Terms with Catalan translations: 86 14 Disambiguation of Terms with Esperanto translations: 92 8 Disambiguation of Terms with Hungarian translations: 72 28 Disambiguation of Terms with Old Church Slavonic translations: 98 2 Disambiguation of Terms with Plautdietsch translations: 95 5 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 93 7 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 92 8 Disambiguation of Terms with Turkish translations: 87 13
  2. With a vain attitude; in a self-approving manner.
    Sense id: en-vainly-en-adv-IaZanZQQ
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: in vain Translations (in vain): vanament (Catalan), vane (Esperanto), hiába (Hungarian), ашоуть (ašutĭ) (Old Church Slavonic), vejäfs (Plautdietsch), напрасно (naprasno) (Russian), тщетно (tščetno) (Russian), зря (zrja) (Russian), vanamente (Spanish), boşuna (Turkish), beyhude (Turkish), boş yere (Turkish)
Disambiguation of 'in vain': 51 49
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          "text": "She searched vainly for her reflection in the shattered mirror.",
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        "In a vain pursuit; to no avail."
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      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "in vain"
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      "_dis1": "51 49",
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "in vain",
      "word": "vanament"
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    {
      "_dis1": "51 49",
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "in vain",
      "word": "vane"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "51 49",
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "in vain",
      "word": "hiába"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "51 49",
      "code": "cu",
      "lang": "Old Church Slavonic",
      "roman": "ašutĭ",
      "sense": "in vain",
      "word": "ашоуть"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "51 49",
      "code": "pdt",
      "lang": "Plautdietsch",
      "sense": "in vain",
      "word": "vejäfs"
    },
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      "_dis1": "51 49",
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      "roman": "naprasno",
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      "word": "напрасно"
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      "sense": "in vain",
      "word": "тщетно"
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      "_dis1": "51 49",
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      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "zrja",
      "sense": "in vain",
      "word": "зря"
    },
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      "_dis1": "51 49",
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "in vain",
      "word": "vanamente"
    },
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      "_dis1": "51 49",
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "in vain",
      "word": "boşuna"
    },
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      "_dis1": "51 49",
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "in vain",
      "word": "beyhude"
    },
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      "_dis1": "51 49",
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      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "in vain",
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  "word": "vainly"
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      "form": "vainliest",
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      "word": "in vain"
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    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "in vain",
      "word": "vanament"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "in vain",
      "word": "vane"
    },
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      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "in vain",
      "word": "hiába"
    },
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      "lang": "Old Church Slavonic",
      "roman": "ašutĭ",
      "sense": "in vain",
      "word": "ашоуть"
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      "code": "pdt",
      "lang": "Plautdietsch",
      "sense": "in vain",
      "word": "vejäfs"
    },
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      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "naprasno",
      "sense": "in vain",
      "word": "напрасно"
    },
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      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "tščetno",
      "sense": "in vain",
      "word": "тщетно"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "zrja",
      "sense": "in vain",
      "word": "зря"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "in vain",
      "word": "vanamente"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "in vain",
      "word": "boşuna"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "in vain",
      "word": "beyhude"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "in vain",
      "word": "boş yere"
    }
  ],
  "word": "vainly"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-20 using wiktextract (c15a5ce and 5c11237). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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