vain

/\vɛ̃\/ adj

Letters

4 characters

Frequency Rank

#6,447

in French word usage

Misspellings

4

tracked variants

Confusables

20

similar word pairs

vain is anFrenchadj. It means: Qui est inutile, qui ne produit rien. Pronounced \vɛ̃\. It ranks #6,447 in French word frequency. Often confused with vi and VN.

Key facts for vain
PropertyValue
Headwordvain
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdj
IPA\vɛ̃\
Letters4
Frequency rank#6,447
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of vain in French word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for vain is 4 letters long, classified as anadj, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \vɛ̃\. Corpus data places it at rank #6,447 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 4 documented wrong-spelling variants for vain, with forms such as "avin", "vainn", and "vani". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "vi", "VN", "vie", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct French form is vain, spelled V-A-I-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui est inutile, qui ne produit rien.
  2. 2
    Qui est frivole, chimérique, qui n’a aucun fondement solide et raisonnable.
  3. 3
    Qui est orgueilleux, plein de vanité.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: avin,vainn,vani,vvain

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for vain

Misspelling Variants of "vain"

avin4vainn5vani4vvain5
Misspelling Variants of "vain"

Frequency rank: #6,447 in French

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "vain"?
"vain" is spelled V-A-I-N. The IPA pronunciation is \vɛ̃\.
What does "vain" mean?
As an adj, "vain" means: Qui est inutile, qui ne produit rien.
What words are commonly confused with "vain"?
"vain" is commonly confused with "vi", "VN", "vie". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "vain"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "vain" is \vɛ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "vain" come from?
"vain" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby French words

Other entries that begin with the letter V in our French index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.