vain
adj. US //ˈveɪn// UK //vˈeɪn// vain
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1 useless or futile (adj.) B2 Upper Intermediatenot producing the result you want; useless.
producing no result; useless or lacking in substance or worth.
ExampleThe doctors made a vain attempt to save the damaged building after the fire.
ExampleDespite their exhaustive efforts to negotiate a peace treaty, it proved to be a vain hope as fighting resumed within forty-eight hours.
UsageCommonly found in the phrase 'in vain', meaning without success.
From Middle English veyn, from Old French vain, from Latin vānus (“empty”).
A conversion of the adjectival form of vain. The only use of this verb in English appears c. 1628 in the writings of Owen Felltham.