She closed her eyes tightly in a vain attempt to hold back the tears.
她紧闭双眼，却无法忍住眼泪。
I knocked loudly in the vain hope that someone might answer.
我敲门敲得很响，希望有人应声，却是徒然。
She's too vain to wear glasses.
她太爱虚荣，不肯戴眼镜。
1.徒然的,无益的,没效果的;愚蠢的;不足道的
2.空的,空虚的;虚有其表的,表面好看的,虚饰的
3.自夸的,自负的;爱虚荣的
1.someone who is vain is very proud and thinks they are very attractive or special
2.unsuccessful, or useless
1.He asked her again in the vain hope that he could persuade her to come(= it was impossible).
他又问了她一次，徒然指望着能说服她来。
2.A tight noseband is a vain attempt to disguise the fact that your horse is not ready for the things you are asking him to do.
紧的鼻革是徒劳的掩饰，它只能说明你的马没有准备好去做你要求他做的事情。
3.For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should rise again, it would have seemed superfluous and vain to pray for the dead.
如果他不希望那些死过的人还要复活，为亡者祈祷，便是一种多馀而糊涂的事。
4.Now grown up, for you; I am strong, and for you; I changed for you. I know it is all in vain!
现在长大了，为你；我坚强了，为你；我改变着，为你。只是我知道这一切都是徒然！
5.An attempt to preserve life in a state of neutrality and indifference, is unreasonable and vain.
试图保持生活的中立和淡漠，是不明智的，徒劳的。
6.All our efforts to persuade the old man to leave the dangerous house were in vain.
我们极力劝说那位老人离开那栋危房，老人就是不听。
7.We have been waiting for her to come back to see us, but (we have been waiting) in vain.
我们一直在等她回来看望我们，但我们白等了。【高考链接】
8.The United States attorney-general is suing her as she sits, in a vain attempt to make her dissolve herself into constituent companies.
美国联邦检察长此刻正在起诉她，要让她把新泽西公司分解成系列子公司，而她却还在坐童车，岂不徒劳？
9.A Ghanaian family took him in temporarily, and Kwasi waited in vain to hear from his aunt.
一个加纳家庭暂时收留了他。夸西等待姨母的消息，可杳无音信。
10.The two halves on the Korean Peninsula have been trying to get reunited for several decades yet in vain.
半个多世纪以来，朝鲜半岛南、北两国都宣称致力于朝鲜民族统一，但至今未果。