vacancy

American  

[vey-kuhn-see] / ˈveɪ kən si /

noun

• vacancies
  plural

1. the state of being vacant; emptiness.

2. a vacant, empty, or unoccupied place, as untenanted lodgings or offices.

   This building still has no vacancies.

3. a gap; opening; breach.

4. an unoccupied position or office.

   a vacancy on the Supreme Court.

5. lack of thought or intelligence; vacuity.

   a look of utter vacancy.

6. Crystallography. (in a crystal) an imperfection resulting from an unoccupied lattice position.

7. Archaic. absence of activity; idleness.

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vacancy British  

/ ˈveɪkənsɪ /

noun

1. the state or condition of being vacant or unoccupied; emptiness

2. an unoccupied post or office

   we have a vacancy in the accounts department

3. an unoccupied room in a boarding house, hotel, etc

   put the "No Vacancies" sign in the window

4. lack of thought or intelligent awareness; inanity

   an expression of vacancy on one's face

5. physics a defect in a crystalline solid caused by the absence of an atom, ion, or molecule from its position in the crystal lattice

6. obsolete idleness or a period spent in idleness

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonvacancy
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• vacancies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of vacancy

From the Medieval Latin word vacantia, dating back to 1570–80. See vacant, -ancy

Explanation

Vacancy refers to something being unoccupied. If a hotel has vacancies, there are rooms available. Have you ever noticed a store that's boarded up and empty, with signs like "For sale" or "For rent"? That's an example of vacancy: the store has no one in it. An unrented apartment is a vacancy, as is a house with no one living in it. Hotels put up a sign saying "No vacancies" when they have every room filled. It could help you remember what vacancy means if you know that a vacant lot is an empty lot.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

vacancy vacancies

Locate the policy, confirm it is active, notify the insurer, update the named insured and check those vacancy rules, it adds.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026

That is the lowest vacancy rate for any metro area other than that of New York and San Jose, Calif.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

She lost her seat at the election but is able to return to Holyrood after the summer recess to fill the Glasgow list MSP vacancy left by Sarwar.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

The purchase comes as the office vacancy rate in downtown Long Beach reaches an all-time high of 35%, according to data from the Downtown Long Beach Alliance.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

The motel he settled on was a Howard Johnson Express, one with a quarter of its parking lot filled with different makes and models of cars and the blue vacancy sign on.

From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken

Good judicial picks can build on one another, by helping to open new vacancies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

"The probation service is overwhelmed, with high caseloads and lots of vacancies putting often inexperienced staff under huge pressure," she said.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

For years, vacancies rendered the agency unable to perform major parts of its work, contributing to long delays in updating voting-system guidance.

From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026

To approve any actions, the commission requires agreement from three of the four commissioners, but it could take months to fill the vacancies, USA Today reported.

From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026

“I ought, but I don’t,” thought Amy, as her eye went from the bright page to May’s discontented face behind the big vases, that could not hide the vacancies her pretty work had once filled.

From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

Related Words

• gap
• job
• vacuum
• void