empty calorie

noun

1. a calorie whose source has little or no nutritional value:

   Junk food has only empty calories.

Word History and Origins

Origin of empty calorie¹

An Americanism dating back to 1965–70

Example Sentences

That coupled with employees feeling maxed out or burnt out at home has made agency employees less likely to tolerate empty calorie behavior.

From Digiday

After missing that mark with the empty-calorie fluff of Salem, WGN is nailing it with Manhattan.

From The Daily Beast

Latino groups hate it, and it does seem like an empty-calorie kind of bill, I have to say.

From The Daily Beast