/ Sign up
English (US)
Cambridge Dictionary Online
1) ? '/us/autocomplete/amp?dataset=' + stateSearch.dataset + '&q=' + stateSearch.term : 'https://'">
0 && stateHdr.searchDesk ? 'pa pdd chac-sb tc-bd bw hbr-20 hbss lpt-25' : 'hdn'">

Synonyms and antonyms of be in vain in English

be in vain

verb
These are words and phrases related to be in vain. Click on any word or phrase to go to its thesaurus page.

FAIL

Synonyms

come to nothing
come to naught
abort
fall through
turn out badly
miscarry
founder
be defeated
run aground
meet one's Waterloo
collapse
misfire
meet with disaster
prove of no use
fail
not succeed
stop short of
be unsuccessful
miss the mark
fall short of
come to grief
Informal
fizzle out
Informal
go up in smoke
Informal
end in smoke
Informal
be stillborn
Informal
slip up
Informal
lay an egg
Slang
bomb
Slang
flop
Slang

Antonym

succeed

COLLAPSE

Synonyms

collapse
break down
disintegrate
fail
fall through
come to nothing
flounder
run aground
flop
Slang
fizzle
Slang
fold
Slang

Antonyms

succeed
triumph
flourish
 Synonyms for be in vain from Random House Roget's College Thesaurus, Revised and Updated Edition © 2000 Random House, Inc.

Browse

be in the vanguard
be in the wind
be in tune
be in unison
be in vain
be in waiting
be inaccurate
be inactive
be inadequate

Word of the Day

go pear-shaped

If a plan goes pear-shaped, it fails.

About this

Blog

Waves, twinges and bursts: words we use to describe emotions

has been added to list
To top
Contents
verb
English (US)   Change
English (UK) English (US) Español Português 中文 (简体) 正體中文 (繁體) Dansk Deutsch Français Italiano Nederlands Norsk Polski Русский Türkçe Tiếng Việt Svenska Українська 日本語 한국어 ગુજરાતી தமிழ் తెలుగు বাঙ্গালি मराठी हिंदी
Follow us
Choose a dictionary
  • Recent and Recommended
  • Definitions
    Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English
    English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English
  • Grammar and thesaurus
    Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English
    Grammar Thesaurus
  • Pronunciation
    British and American pronunciations with audio
    English Pronunciation
  • Translation
    Click on the arrows to change the translation direction.
    Bilingual Dictionaries
    • English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English
    • English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English
    • English–Danish Danish–English
    • English–Dutch Dutch–English
    • English–French French–English
    • English–German German–English
    • English–Indonesian Indonesian–English
    • English–Italian Italian–English
    • English–Japanese Japanese–English
    • English–Norwegian Norwegian–English
    • English–Polish Polish–English
    • English–Portuguese Portuguese–English
    • English–Spanish Spanish–English
    • English–Swedish Swedish–English
    Semi-bilingual Dictionaries
    English–Arabic English–Bengali English–Catalan English–Czech English–Gujarati English–Hindi English–Korean English–Malay English–Marathi English–Russian English–Tamil English–Telugu English–Thai English–Turkish English–Ukrainian English–Urdu English–Vietnamese
  • Dictionary +Plus
    Word Lists
Contents
American Thesaurus
My word lists

To add ${headword} to a word list please sign up or log in.

Sign up or Log in
My word lists

Add ${headword} to one of your lists below, or create a new one.

5 && !stateSidebarWordList.expended) ? 195 : (stateSidebarWordListItems.length * 39)" [src]="stateSidebarWordListItems">
5 && !stateSidebarWordList.expended) ? 'hao hp lmt-25' : 'hdn'">
More
Go to your word lists
Tell us about this example sentence: