{
    "term": "vain",
    "partOfSpeech": "adjective",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "that does not produce the result you want",
            "cefr": "c2",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "She closed her eyes tightly **in a vain attempt** to hold back the tears."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I knocked loudly **in the vain hope** that someone might answer."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The government spent billions in a vain bid to prop up the currency."
                }
            ],
            "synonyms": "useless",
            "topics": ["Difficulty and failure"]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "too proud of your own appearance, abilities or achievements",
            "labels": "(disapproving)",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "She's too vain to wear glasses."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Their flattery made him vain."
                },
                {
                    "text": "very vain about his looks"
                },
                {
                    "text": "He's so vain!"
                },
                {
                    "text": "I don't think it's vain to care about how you look."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Personal qualities"]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "without success",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "They tried in vain to persuade her to go."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She waited in vain for her son to return."
                },
                {
                    "text": "All our efforts were in vain."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Difficulty and failure"]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to show a lack of respect when using somebody’s name or when talking about them",
            "labels": "(humorous)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Have you been taking my name in vain again?"
                },
                {
                    "text": "to take the Lord's name in vain"
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/veɪn/",
                "audio": "va/vain/vain__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/veɪn/",
                "audio": "va/vain/vain__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "Middle English (in the sense ‘without real worth’): via Old French from Latin vanus ‘empty, without substance’."
}