Vain vs Waste - What's the difference?
vain | waste |
Overly proud of oneself, especially concerning appearance; having a high opinion of one's own accomplishments with slight reason.
* (rfdate) Leo Rosten
Having no real substance, value, or importance; empty; void; worthless; unsatisfying.
* (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
* Bible, (w) v. 6
* (John Milton) (1608-1674)
Effecting no purpose; pointless, futile.
* (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
* (rfdate) William of Occam
*{{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers)
, chapter=6, title= Showy; ostentatious.
* (Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
A waste land; an uninhabited desolate region; a wilderness or desert.
A place that has been laid waste or destroyed.
A large tract of uncultivated land.
A vast expanse of water.
A disused mine or part of one.
The action or progress of wasting; extravagant consumption or ineffectual use.
Large abundance of something, specifically without it being used.
Gradual loss or decay.
A decaying of the body by disease; wasting away.
(rare) Destruction or devastation caused by war or natural disasters; See "to lay waste"
Excess of material, useless by-products or damaged, unsaleable products; garbage; rubbish.
Excrement
(legal) A cause of action which may be brought by the owner of a future interest in property against the current owner of that property to prevent the current owner from degrading the value or character of the property, either intentionally or through neglect.
Uncultivated, uninhabited.
*:
*:SOo whanne syr Galahad was departed from the castel of maydens / he rode tyl he came to a waste forest / & there he mette with syre launcelot and syr Percyuale but they knewe hym not / for he was newe desguysed / Ryghte so syr launcelot his fader dressid his spere and brake it vpon syr Galahad
Barren; desert.
*2009 , (Diarmaid MacCulloch), A History of Christianity , Penguin 2010, p. 255:
*:For centuries the shrine at Mecca had been of merely local importance, far outshone by the Temple of the Jews in Jerusalem, whose cult Christians had in good measure renewed by their pilgrimage in honour of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection, while leaving the actual site of the Jerusalem Temple dishonoured and waste .
Rejected as being defective; eliminated as being worthless; produced in excess.
*{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=September-October, author=
, magazine=(American Scientist), title= Superfluous; needless.
Dismal; gloomy; cheerless.
*Sir (Walter Scott) (1771-1832)
*:His heart became appalled as he gazed forward into the waste darkness of futurity.
Unfortunate; disappointing. (rfex)
To devastate or destroy.
* Spenser
* Dryden
To wear away by degrees; to impair gradually; to diminish by constant loss; to use up; to consume; to spend; to wear out.
* Bible, Numbers xiv. 33
* Robertson
To squander (money or resources) uselessly; to spend (time) idly.
* Gray
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838
, page=13 (Technology Quarterly), magazine=(The Economist)
, title= (slang) To .
Gradually lose weight, weaken, become frail.
To be diminished; to lose bulk, substance, strength, value etc. gradually.
* Bible, 1 Kings xvii. 14
(legal) To damage, impair, or injure (an estate, etc.) voluntarily, or by allowing the buildings, fences, etc., to fall into decay.
As adjectives the difference between vain and waste
is that vain is overly proud of oneself, especially concerning appearance; having a high opinion of one's own accomplishments with slight reason while waste is uncultivated, uninhabited.As a noun waste is
a waste land; an uninhabited desolate region; a wilderness or desert.As a verb waste is
to devastate or destroy.vain
English
Adjective
(en-adj)- Every writer is a narcissist. This does not mean that he is vain ; it only means that he is hopelessly self-absorbed.
- thy vain excuse
- Let no man deceive you with vain words.
- Vain wisdom all, and false philosophy.
- Vain is the force of man / To crush the pillars which the pile sustain.
- It is vain to do with more what can be done with fewer.
A Cuckoo in the Nest, passage=But Sophia's mother was not the woman to brook defiance. After a few moments' vain remonstrance her husband complied. His manner and appearance were suggestive of a satiated sea-lion.}}
- Load some vain church with old theatric state.
Synonyms
* (overly proud of oneself) conceited; puffed up; inflated * (pointless) pointless, futile, fruitless, ineffectual * See also * See alsoDerived terms
* in vain * vainness * vainlyExternal links
* *Anagrams
* English terms with homophones ----waste
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) .Noun
- That was a waste of time
- Her life seemed a waste
- The cage was littered with animal waste
Derived terms
* ameliorative waste * cotton waste * industrial waste * lay waste * nuclear waste * permissive waste * radioactive waste * rock waste * silk waste * toxic waste * trade waste * voluntary waste * wasteful * wasteless * waste of space * waste of time * waste pipe * wastyEtymology 2
From (etyl) .Adjective
(en adjective)Katie L. Burke
In the News, passage=Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis: the ability to convert water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and waste oxygen using solar energy.}}
Usage notes
Same meanings as wasted.Derived terms
* affirmative waste * ameliorative waste * go to waste * lay waste * lie waste * nonwasted * nonwasting * permissive waste * run to waste * unwasted * voluntary waste * waste pipe * wasteland * wasteness * wastrifeEtymology 3
From (etyl) .Verb
(wast)- Thou barren ground, whom winter's wrath hath wasted , / Art made a mirror to behold my plight.
- The Tiber / Insults our walls, and wastes our fruitful grounds.
- until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness
- Wasted by such a course of life, the infirmities of age daily grew on him.
- Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, / And waste its sweetness on the desert air.
Ideas coming down the track, passage=A “moving platform” scheme
- E. Kay (1822-1897), afterwards Lord Justice of Appeal, had rooms on the same staircase as myself, and we wasted a great deal of time together, both in term and in my second summer vacation.'' 1909. Francis Galton, ''Memories of my life , p. 69.
- The barrel of meal shall not waste .