empty calories

Idioms  

1. Food that has little or no nutritional value. For example, Snacking on beer and potato chips makes for a lot of empty calories. [1960s]

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

empty calories

Our physician father finally conceded that tonic water—thanks to drops of quinine—might not be a completely worthless mix of food coloring and empty calories.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

"It's like dumping empty calories into a system that's been running on a finely tuned diet for hundreds of years."

From Science Daily ● Nov. 8, 2025

By design, the single “loser” point awarded for overtime and shootout losses, which the Kraken have gorged on like empty calories, keeps NHL standings artificially close.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 31, 2024

“They were really worried and felt like this was going to denigrate them and be sort of empty calories for their brain,” Dr. Lakhani said.

From New York Times ● Dec. 28, 2023

Except for domesticated house pets, animals are sensible enough to prefer the most nutritional fare available and tend to shun empty calories unless they are starving.

From How and When to Be Your Own Doctor by Solomon, Steve