Adjective, : a vain dandy. ,vain remarks. ,a vain effort. ,vain pageantry; vain display.    From Dictionary.com. 

For here they travel vainly, —vainly pass.    From Wordnik.com.  [From ‘The Soul’s Travelling’] Reference

Catholic, a name vainly usurped by the Romanists, ii.    From Wordnik.com.  [Sermons Preached Upon Several Occasions. Vol. IV.] Reference

Narby was in full flight, with Hugh and Ertz calling vainly after him.    From Wordnik.com.  [Destiny Narrowly Avoided] Reference

Samantha read the large curlicue lettering aloud, Praises on stones are titles vainly lent.    From Wordnik.com.  [Funeral In Berlin]

It was strange to reflect that even now visiphones might be called vainly in the lost cities.    From Wordnik.com.  [Against The Fall Of Night]

Mavis called vainly for some minutes, till, at last, Jill appeared, carrying the man's collar in her mouth.    From Wordnik.com.  [Sparrows: the story of an unprotected girl] Reference

Sheldon had called vainly to the house-boys, who, at the moment, were dosing the remaining patients in the hospital.    From Wordnik.com.  [Adventure] Reference

Many of them had lain all night, with shattered bones, or weak with loss of blood, calling vainly for help, or water, or death.    From Wordnik.com.  [The County Regiment A Sketch of the Second Regiment of Connecticut Volunteer Heavy Artillery, Originally the Nineteenth Volunteer Infantry, in the Civil War] Reference

He did not seek to rush after them, floundering here and there in the semi-darkness and calling vainly, but hurried back to the town.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Candidate A Political Romance] Reference

There would have been no need to "vainly" defend Blair's policies if she'd taken that path.    From Wordnik.com.  [Archive 2007-01-01] Reference

Lavinia called vainly after her brother; but.    From Wordnik.com.  [Camilla] Reference

In the physical world we vainly scrounge for glory.    From Wordnik.com.  [Living A Virtual Life] Reference

Others tried vainly to drive around the traffic jam.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Day We Stopped The War] Reference

For hours I've watched him vainly seeking instructions.    From Wordnik.com.  [Reporter's Notebook: The Story Of A Lifetime] Reference

Camors interrogated vainly the face of his young cousin.    From Wordnik.com.  [The French Immortals Series — Complete] Reference

One child's hand grasped vainly up through twisted metal.    From Wordnik.com.  [Nothing Between Earth And Sky] Reference

One of the brothers vainly tried mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.    From Wordnik.com.  [A Brother Lost To The War ..Aup-Luc Delahaye--Si] Reference

Ever since, both parties have struggled vainly to find a new one.    From Wordnik.com.  [Washington Disconnected] Reference

Brother B.J., 7, is vainly trying to lift his bike's front tire in the air.    From Wordnik.com.  [Playing Ye Olde Way] Reference

Julien was in love with Reine, and was vainly combating his overpowering passion.    From Wordnik.com.  [The French Immortals Series — Complete] Reference

He was sure to be criticized as a power-grabber vainly seeking to restore Camelot.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Worst Week] Reference

Tom looked from the window, vainly hoping that the guards might have been withdrawn.    From Wordnik.com.  [Tom Swift in Captivity, or a Daring Escape By Airship] Reference

The two Ministers looked vainly in the theatre and in the corridors for the General.    From Wordnik.com.  [The French Immortals Series — Complete] Reference

"Well, we're in no great hurry," went on Tom, after vainly scanning the ground below.    From Wordnik.com.  [Tom Swift in Captivity, or a Daring Escape By Airship] Reference

The next day, and on the two succeeding days, he vainly presented himself at her door.    From Wordnik.com.  [The French Immortals Series — Complete] Reference

About 20 miles to the south, the survivors vainly scanned the horizon as darkness fell.    From Wordnik.com.  [Dead In the Water] Reference

Gargantua could not have exhibited a greater invention of expedients than he did; but vainly.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Laws of Etiquette] Reference

My black two-door snakes between them trying, perhaps vainly and naively, to get out of Texas.    From Wordnik.com.  [So Much Silence, So Much Space] Reference

Brother B.J., 7, is riding his "big-boy bike," vainly trying to lift the front tire in the air.    From Wordnik.com.  [The End of Make Believe] Reference

Hours later, the system vainly tried to direct me to an Interstate I had years ago learned to avoid.    From Wordnik.com.  [GPS: When it’s time to turn it off] Reference

The nymphs of the tapestries smiled vainly in their faded beauty at the guests, who did not see them.    From Wordnik.com.  [The French Immortals Series — Complete] Reference

All they could see was that he was racing away at top speed, with Koku vainly swinging his club at him.    From Wordnik.com.  [Tom Swift and His Great Searchlight; or, on the border for Uncle Sam] Reference

So it had vainly tried to prove to her that a life of immoderate pleasure was not conducive to happiness.    From Wordnik.com.  [The French Immortals Series — Complete] Reference

"Let me finish," Obama interjected, vainly trying to quiet Hillary, who he said had gone on for two minutes.    From Wordnik.com.  [Cheap Shots, But Valuable?] Reference

After waiting vainly for 30 minutes, the good Samaritans hid him under a blanket and smuggled him to the hospital.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Siege Of L.A.] Reference

The Countess sought to collect herself, but I saw very well that her troubled spirit vainly strove to recover itself.    From Wordnik.com.  [The French Immortals Series — Complete] Reference

To the right and left dodged the forward airship, vainly endeavoring to shake off Tom Swift, but he would not give up.    From Wordnik.com.  [Tom Swift and His Great Searchlight; or, on the border for Uncle Sam] Reference

This woman, at the age of thirty-five, still young in heart, was disturbed by feelings which she strove, but vainly, to rule.    From Wordnik.com.  [The French Immortals Series — Complete] Reference

For a while, I vainly imagined that The Post had killed "Real Housewives" by exposing its allegedly glamorous stars as bankrupt graspers.    From Wordnik.com.  [Reality TV is affecting reality, creating a weird world for gossip writers] Reference