vainly
/ˈveɪnli/adverb
vainly is an adverb meaning “In a vain pursuit; to no avail” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled V-A-I-N-L-Y and has 2 syllables, and it appears about once in every 4 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).
What does vainly mean?
adverb
- 1
In a vain pursuit; to no avail.
She searched vainly for her reflection in the shattered mirror.
- 2
With a vain attitude; in a self-approving manner.
She stared vainly at her reflection in the mirror.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce vainly?
- US /ˈveɪnli/
Vainly has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-vainly.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of vainly
- vainlier comparative
- more vainly comparative
- vainliest superlative
- most vainly superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is vainly?
Vainly appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 62,179th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Vainly in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense in vain:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | vanamente |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does vainly come from?
Inherited from Middle English vaynly, veynly, vaynely, veynely, equivalent to vain + -ly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).