empty
Americanadjective
-
containing nothing; having none of the usual or appropriate contents.
an empty bottle.
- Antonyms:
- full
-
having no occupant or occupants; vacant; unoccupied.
an empty house.
-
without cargo or load.
an empty wagon.
-
destitute of people or human activity.
We walked along the empty streets of the city at night.
-
destitute of some quality or qualities; devoid (usually followed byof ).
Theirs is a life now empty of happiness.
-
without force, effect, or significance; hollow; meaningless.
empty compliments;
empty pleasures.
- Synonyms:
- vain, useless, pointless, ineffectual, ineffective, futile, bootless, barren
-
not employed in useful activity or work; idle.
empty summer days.
-
I'm feeling rather empty—let's have lunch.
-
without knowledge or sense; frivolous; senseless.
an empty head.
-
completely spent of emotion.
The experience had left him with an empty heart.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
-
to become empty.
The room emptied rapidly after the lecture.
-
to discharge contents, as a river.
The river empties into the sea.
noun
plural
emptiesadjective
-
containing nothing
-
without inhabitants; vacant or unoccupied
-
carrying no load, passengers, etc
-
without purpose, substance, or value
an empty life
-
insincere or trivial
empty words
-
not expressive or vital; vacant
she has an empty look
-
informal hungry
-
devoid; destitute
a life empty of happiness
-
informal drained of energy or emotion
after the violent argument he felt very empty
-
maths logic (of a set or class) containing no members
-
philosophy logic (of a name or description) having no reference
verb
-
to make or become empty
-
to discharge (contents)
-
to unburden or rid (oneself)
to empty oneself of emotion
noun
Usage
What is a basic definition of empty? Empty describes something as containing nothing or to remove contents from something. Empty also describes something that is meaningless. Empty has several other senses as an adjective and a verb.If something is empty, there is nothing in it. Empty is the opposite of full and is used to describe anything that has a complete absence of contents. Sometimes, empty has slightly different specific meanings depending on context. For example, an empty room might only lack people or it might be totally bare, with no furniture. Empty is also used in many figurative expressions, such as “an empty head,” meaning the person is unintelligent.
- Real-life examples: An empty box has nothing inside it. An empty refrigerator has no food or anything else inside of it. An empty gascan has zero gas in it.
- Used in a sentence: Luis drank the bottle of soda until it was totally empty.
- Used in a sentence: Antonio emptied the bucket of water into the river.
- Real-life examples: If you give an empty compliment, you don’t actually mean the compliment or believe it to be true. An empty gesture is one that you don’t intend on doing or that won’t have any effect, like offering to help your friend with math when you don’t understand the math problems, either. If you have an empty life, you think your life doesn’t have any meaning or purpose.
- Used in a sentence: My sister laughed at my empty threats of breaking her smartphone because she knew I would never actually do it.
Related Words
Empty, vacant, blank, void denote absence of content or contents. Empty means without appropriate or accustomed contents: an empty refrigerator. Vacant is usually applied to that which is temporarily unoccupied: a vacant chair; three vacant apartments. Blank applies to surfaces free from any marks or lacking appropriate markings, openings, etc.: blank paper; a blank wall. Void emphasizes completely unfilled space with vague, unspecified, or no boundaries: void and without form.
Other Word Forms
- emptiable adjective
- emptier noun
- emptily adverb
- emptiness noun
- overempty adjective
- quasi-empty adjective
- self-emptying adjective
- unemptied adjective
- unempty adjective
Etymology
Origin of empty
First recorded before 900; Middle English (with intrusive -p- ); Old English ǣm(et)tig “vacant,” from ǣm(et)ta “rest, leisure” ( ǣ- a- 3 + unattested Germanic mōtithō “accommodation”; must 1, meet 1 ) + -ig -y 1 )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
With the margin between winning gold and going home empty handed "hundredths of a second", two-time world champion Weston knows that innovation in aerodynamics is key to the "minor gains" needed.
From BBC
An empty frame for the camera had been previously noted at her home.
From Los Angeles Times
In some cases, organizers have even turned to late discounts and promotions to avoid visibly empty sections on camera.
From Salon
The once-busy market stalls stood empty, as families gathered to comfort one another.
From BBC
She took him back up the stairs, down a hall, and into a big empty room with blue wallpaper.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
