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vainly
adverb /ˈveɪn.li/Definition
› unsuccessfully: He tried vainly to make them listen.Useless and futileUnsuccessful (people and things)
(Definition of vainly adverb from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus
© Cambridge University Press)
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You are looking at an entry to do with Unsuccessful (people and things), but you might be interested in these topics from the Doing and achieving topic area:
- Abstaining and refraining
- Acting and acts
- Avoiding action
- Becoming better
- Cancelling and interrupting
- Competing and contending (non-sporting)
- Coping and not coping
- Delaying and wasting time
- Describing the leading position
- Efficient and effective
- Expressions telling people to hurry up
- Failing and doing badly
- Failures
- Getting involved for one's own benefit or against others' will
- Hesitating
- Higher and lower points of achievement
- Hurrying and doing things quickly
- Making progress and advancing
- Making things better
- Performing a function
- Potential
- Reacting and responding
- Repeating an action
- Succeeding, achieving and fulfilling
- Success and achievements
- Successful (things or people)
- Surpassing in quality or number
- Taking part and getting involved
- Trying and making an effort
- Waiting
- Ways of achieving things
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SMART Thesaurus: Unsuccessful (people and things)
Synonyms and related words:
- abortive adjective
- achiever noun
- be dead in the water idiom
- botched adjective
- counterproductive adjective
- flatline verb
- frustrated adjective
- futile adjective
- go/get/head nowhere idiom
- inauspicious adjective
- lame duck noun (UNSUCCESSFUL)
- redemption noun (IMPROVEMENT)
- small-time adjective
- stillborn adjective
- struggling adjective
- the doldrums noun
- unavailing adjective
- unglued adjective
- vain adjective (NOT SUCCESSFUL)
- washed up adjective
You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
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