frequently_asked_questions_files/Oxford Thesaurus.pdf

to win her back. 3 in vain. a vainly, futilely, unsuccessfully,
fruitlessly, bootlessly: In vain, we sought the help of the
police. b irreverently, blasphemously, disrespectfully,
improperly: Despite his mother's admonitions, he continues to
take the Lord's name in vain.
valley n. glen, dale, dell, vale, dingle, hollow, coomb or coombe or
combe or comb, No. Brit and Welsh cirque or corrie or cwm, Scots
strath: Oh, to stroll once again the cool valleys and the
heathered hills of home!
vanity n. 1 conceit, conceitedness, egotism, narcissism, arrogance,
cockiness, self-importance, vainglory, haughtiness, pride,
self-admiration, self-worship, Colloq swell-headedness,
big-headedness: It is disgraceful what some people do to
satisfy their vanity. 2 vainness, emptiness, hollowness,
worthlessness, futility, unreality, bootlessness, pointlessness,
uselessness, folly, vapidity, silliness, vacuousness, vacuity,
foolishness, fatuity, frivolousness: The vanity of trying to
complete the book in a year must be obvious by now.
vapid adj. insipid, flavourless, tasteless, bland, watery, watered
down, wishy-washy, jejune, colourless, unpalatable, flat, tame,
lifeless, boring, tedious, tiresome, uninteresting, trite,
wearisome, wearying, humdrum, Colloq blah, ho-hum: The minister
attacked green politics as vapid romanticism.
vapour n. 1 mist, fog, steam, cloud, smoke, smog, exhalation: There
arose from the bog a suffocating, miasmic vapour. 2 the
vapours. morbidity, hypochondria, hysteria, nervousness,
depression, rheuminess, Archaic distemper, Colloq the pip:
Charlotte suffered an attack of the vapours and retired to her
room.
variable adj. changeable, protean, changing, inconstant, varying,
wavering, mercurial, fickle, capricious, unsteady, unfixed,
unstable, uncertain, undependable, unpredictable, fluctuating,
vacillating, mutable, chameleonic, chameleon-like: The weather
can be quite variable depending on the season.
variance n. 1 variation, difference, disparity, discrepancy,
disagreement, deviation, inconsistency, divergence, incongruity:
The monitor takes account of minute variance in blood pressure.