Vainly

//ˈveɪnli// adv

adv ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adverb
  1. 1
    In a vain pursuit; to no avail.

    "She searched vainly for her reflection in the shattered mirror."

  2. 2
    With a vain attitude; in a self-approving manner.

    "She stared vainly at her reflection in the mirror."

Adverb
  1. 1
    to no avail wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
aimlesslyamissastraybelow the markbeside the pointin vain

Example

More examples

"In my dreams I found a little of the beauty I had vainly sought in life, and wandered through old gardens and enchanted woods."

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English vaynly, veynly, vaynely, veynely, equivalent to vain + -ly.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.