empty

[ emp-tee ]

/ ˈɛmp ti /

adjective, emp·ti·er, emp·ti·est.

containing nothing; having none of the usual or appropriate contents: an empty bottle.

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 by of): Theirs is a life now empty of happiness.

without force, effect, or significance; hollow; meaningless: empty compliments; empty pleasures.

not employed in useful activity or work; idle: empty summer days.

Mathematics. (of a set) containing no elements; null; void.

hungry: I'm feeling rather empty—let's have lunch.

without knowledge or sense; frivolous; foolish: an empty head.

completely spent of emotion: The experience had left him with an empty heart.

verb (used with object), emp·tied, emp·ty·ing.

to make empty; deprive of contents; discharge the contents of: to empty a bucket.

to discharge (contents): to empty the water out of a bucket.

verb (used without object), emp·tied, emp·ty·ing.

to become empty: The room emptied rapidly after the lecture.

to discharge contents, as a river: The river empties into the sea.

noun, plural emp·ties.

Informal. something that is empty, as a box, bottle, or can: Throw the empties into the waste bin.

Nearby words

empson, empson, william, empt, emptiness, emptor, empty, empty calorie, empty calories, empty cow, empty morph, empty nest

Origin of empty

before 900; Middle English (with intrusive -p-); Old English ǣmettig vacant (ǣmett(a) leisure (ǣ- a-³ + Germanic *mōtithō accommodation; cf. must¹, meet¹) + -ig -y¹)

SYNONYMS FOR empty

1 vacuous. 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.

6 delusive, vain.

12 unload, unburden.

ANTONYMS FOR empty

1 full.

Related forms

emp·ti·a·ble, adjectiveemp·ti·er, nounemp·ti·ly, adverbemp·ti·ness, noun

o·ver·emp·ty, adjectivequa·si-emp·ty, adjectiveself-emp·ti·ness, nounself-emp·ty·ing, adjectiveun·emp·tied, adjectiveun·emp·ty, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for emptier

Whether the stadium or the speech was emptier is the obvious question of the moment.
Michael Tomasky on Mitt Romney’s Tax-Plan Flim-Flam|Michael Tomasky|February 25, 2012|DAILY BEAST
It was dusk in the room, which, large and empty at all times, now appeared larger and emptier than usual.
The Voyage Out|Virginia Woolf
The supper-room will be emptier now, and I am dying of hunger.
The Danvers Jewels, and Sir Charles Danvers|Mary Cholmondeley
A pause followed, the emptier for the preceding stridor of his voice.
The Best Short Stories of 1921 and the Yearbook of the American Short Story|Various

The elephant was, however, no emptier than the cottages about which our friends strolled.
Their Pilgrimage|Charles Dudley Warner
He would bid adieu to all that folly, and his life should not be a whit the emptier for the loss.
The Nebuly Coat|John Meade Falkner

British Dictionary definitions for emptier

empty

/ (ˈɛmptɪ) /

adjective -tier or -tiest

containing nothing

without inhabitants; vacant or unoccupied

carrying no load, passengers, etc

without purpose, substance, or valuean empty life

insincere or trivialempty words

not expressive or vital; vacantshe has an empty look

informal hungry

(postpositive foll by of) devoid; destitutea life empty of happiness

informal drained of energy or emotionafter 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 -ties, -tying or -tied

to make or become empty

(when intr, foll by into) to discharge (contents)

(tr often foll by of) to unburden or rid (oneself)to empty oneself of emotion

noun plural -ties

an empty container, esp a bottle

Derived Formsemptiable, adjectiveemptier, nounemptily, adverbemptiness, noun

Word Origin for empty

Old English ǣmtig, from æmetta free time, from æ- without + -metta, from mōtan to be obliged to; see must 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Idioms and Phrases with emptier

empty

In addition to the idioms beginning with empty

empty calories
empty nest
empty suit

also see:

glass is half full (half empty)
running on empty

empty

adjective, emp·ti·er, emp·ti·est.

verb (used with object), emp·tied, emp·ty·ing.

verb (used without object), emp·tied, emp·ty·ing.

noun, plural emp·ties.

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of empty

Examples from the Web for emptier

British Dictionary definitions for emptier

empty

adjective -tier or -tiest

verb -ties, -tying or -tied

noun plural -ties

Word Origin for empty

Idioms and Phrases with emptier

empty