Sentence examples for a vain exercise from inspiring English sources

It is likely to be a vain exercise: unnecessary if the downturn is mild, but insufficient to deal with a truly dire mess.

A spokesman for the main opposition BJP party, Rajiv Pratap Rudi, told AFP the reshuffle was a "vain exercise by the government to refurbish its image in the face.

All the harassment and the tub-thumping, the misleading of Rachel Nickell's family and the denigration by the judge was in vain; a vast exercise in distraction left the real killer free to commit other crimes.

At gyms where this isn't common, taking off your shirt can make you look like a vain "meathead" in comparison to the other people exercising.

A vain hope.

That's a vain hope.

This was a vain hope.

This was a vain undertaking.

It may be a vain hope.

It was a vain hope.

That, alas, seems a vain hope.