empty

[ emp-tee ]

/ ˈɛmp ti /

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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

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.

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ANTONYMS FOR empty

1. full.

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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 emptiness

Netherland, published in 2008, attempted to capture a feeling of emptiness in the West after the catastrophic events of 9/11.
Joseph O'Neill's 'The Dog' Has a Dystopian Dubai as Modernity's Stand-In|J.P. O’Malley|September 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
When I contemplate God among the dead I find only emptiness and silence.
How Losing My Daughter Changed My Faith|Kyle Cupp|June 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Now I think that many are beginning to experience the rawness of the trauma, emptiness, and loss.
Newtown’s Pastor, Three Months Later|Joshua DuBois|March 24, 2013|DAILY BEAST
“I walk around with an emptiness that no one or anything has been able to fill,” she wrote.
34 Years Later, Gunshots Still Echo From a Senseless Killing|Michael Daly|March 11, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Of a Sunday, Wall-street is deserted as Petra; and every night of every day it is an emptiness.
David's Bookclub: Bartleby the Scrivener|David Frum|November 26, 2012|DAILY BEAST
He'd come to supper of a Sunday and eat enormous; though never did we get anything in return but emptiness and silence.
The Torch and Other Tales|Eden Phillpotts
The perusal of the first part left a feeling of emptiness and despair behind it.
The Growth of a Soul|August Strindberg
And even when the work was done, the emptiness of the honor did not convince the Judge that this is not a material world.
In the Heart of a Fool|William Allen White
O Sariputra, he said, form here is emptiness, and emptiness indeed is form.
Evolution Of The Japanese, Social And Psychic|Sidney L. Gulick
The houses had no wakefulness, they were but seen to stand, and the light was a revelation of emptiness.
The Short Works of George Meredith|George Meredith

British Dictionary definitions for emptiness

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

Word Origin and History for emptiness

emptiness

1530s, from empty + -ness.

empty

adj.

c.1200, from Old English æmettig "at leisure, not occupied, unmarried," from æmetta "leisure," from æ "not" + -metta, from motan "to have" (see might (n.)). The -p- is a euphonic insertion.

Sense evolution from "at leisure" to "empty" is paralleled in several languages, e.g. Modern Greek adeios "empty," originally "freedom from fear," from deios "fear." "The adj. adeios must have been applied first to persons who enjoyed freedom from duties, leisure, and so were unoccupied, whence it was extended to objects that were unoccupied" [Buck].

The adjective also yielded a verb (1520s), replacing Middle English empten, from Old English geæmtigian. Related: Emptied; emptying. Figurative sense of empty-nester first attested 1987. Empty-handed attested from 1610s.

Idioms and Phrases with emptiness

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.

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RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of empty

Examples from the Web for emptiness

empty

adjective -tier or -tiest

verb -ties, -tying or -tied

noun plural -ties

Word Origin for empty

emptiness

empty

empty