What does vain in French mean?

What is the meaning of the word vain in French? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use vain in French.

The word vain in French means useless, pointless, vain, shallow, in vain, not be an empty word, not be an idle word. To learn more, please see the details below.

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Meaning of the word vain

useless, pointless

adjectif (inutile)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
Il est vain de s'obstiner contre vents et marées.
It's pointless to persevere against the wind and the tides.

vain, shallow

adjectif (soutenu (futile)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
C'est une fille vaine, sans esprit critique.
She's a vain girl without any analytical sense.

in vain

locution adverbiale (inutilement)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")
J'ai tenté de retrouver mon amour de jeunesse, mais en vain. Tous ces efforts auront été faits en vain, nous n'avons pas décroché le contrat.
I tried in vain to find my childhood sweetheart. All this effort has been made in vain as we did not get the contract.

not be an empty word, not be an idle word

locution verbale (être suivi des faits)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")

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French (le français) is a Romance language. Like Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, it comes from popular Latin, once used in the Roman Empire. A French-speaking person or country can be called a "Francophone". French is the official language in 29 countries. French is the fourth most spoken native language in the European Union. French ranks third in the EU, after English and German, and is the second most widely taught language after English. The majority of the world's French-speaking population lives in Africa, with about 141 million Africans from 34 countries and territories who can speak French as a first or second language. French is the second most widely spoken language in Canada, after English, and both are official languages at the federal level. It is the first language of 9.5 million people or 29% and the second language of 2.07 million people or 6% of the entire population of Canada. In contrast to other continents, French has no popularity in Asia. Currently, no country in Asia recognizes French as an official language.