Now many words seem a little outdated, but nevertheless they do not lose their charm for people. Among them is such a linguistic unit as "in vain" (it is a synonym for the word "useless"). We will consider in our article not only its meaning, synonyms, but also the appropriateness of use in certain contexts.
Value
There is no secret here. The word "in vain" is an expression of the fact that any action or event did not bring results. For example, "I went to different places where employees were required, but all in vain (this is such a state of utter despair of a person), I did not get a job."
Synonyms
In principle, the word “in vain” can be replaced by “useless”, “meaningless”, “vain”, “unnecessary”. As well as some phrases that express that meaning. For example, “what is the use of this?”, “All in vain”, “all perishable”, “efforts in vain”. In short, everything here is limited by the imagination of man, the main thing is to express the utmost degree of despair and futility, maybe even the absurdity of what is happening. Such is the word "in vain", we proposed synonyms for it.
Context
This is the most interesting. It's no secret that if you use the word in an environment that is not suitable for him, then you can get into a mess. For example, if you say: "I went to the deli today for chicken eggs, but all is in vain (is it not too appropriate here?), I could not buy them." Do not think, we fully admit that the fact that there are no eggs in the store can plunge someone into the abyss of despair (even this proposal probably causes a smile from the reader), but, as a rule, this still does not happen.
Usually they say: "I wanted to buy eggs today and make myself an omelet for breakfast, but they were not in the store, it is very sorry (or insulting)."
In vain - is the word book or literary, if we mix it with the everyday dictionary, then we will get the irony. In general, a mixture of styles causes either a smile or obscures the meaning of what the speaker expresses. And this is a big problem.
When we read philosophical journalism or fiction, poetry, the word "in vain" (this is an expression of the utter meaninglessness of efforts) does not seem like a black sheep to us in this environment.
When a person becomes inflamed and speaks about legal search, about social justice, about the high destiny of a person and his search, then he can conclude at the end: "Everything is in vain." Assuming that there is no truth, no social justice, no high purpose, that is, "we are all cockroaches," as Dr. House said, so the word "in vain" perfectly expresses the essence of human life.
Thus, the meaning of the word “in vain” was carefully considered by us. In the end, it remains only to say that you should be more careful about the words, and before you say, you need to drown the meaning of a word.