Synonyms

emptiness

American

[emp-tee-nis] / ˈɛmp ti nɪs /

noun

the fact or state of containing nothing or of being without the usual or appropriate contents.

All morning the emptiness of the cupboard, the thought of the house without even tea or butter, had been troubling him.
the fact or state of being without human occupants or human activity.

A broad, slanting patch of sunshine cut across the gloomy, lifeless emptiness of the church.
empty or barren space; void.

If we leave today we can reach the outpost by the 27th—through another 800 miles of flat, windy emptiness.
the fact or quality of being without force or effect; hollowness.

Continued support for brutal regimes reveals the hypocrisy and emptiness of the administration’s professed goal of spreading democracy.
the quality or feeling of being without significance or purpose; meaninglessness.

In the 21st century we are more likely to experience aimlessness and emptiness than guilt.
the fact or quality of being unoccupied by useful work or activity; idleness.

An active man, not yet sixty, he was unused to the emptiness of his days after he retired.
the fact or quality of being completely spent or drained emotionally by trauma.

Many women describe a feeling of numbness and emptiness following a miscarriage.

Other Word Forms

self-emptiness noun

Etymology

Origin of emptiness

empty ( def. ) + -ness ( def. )

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.

Maintaining this pleasant emptiness is no easy task, as ghosts of Charles’s past slowly begin to invade his idyll.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026

There is only emptiness: a hollow space where a heart should be, ready to be filled with cold, hard cash.

From Salon • Nov. 21, 2025

Lang’s ultimate suggestion of emptiness, in performance, entails erasing his own texts, his own purpose.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 19, 2025

Now, lying thick and still under the cover of plastic seats, the cavernous emptiness of the place mirrors the void left since it is modern reincarnation in the late 1990s.

From BBC • Nov. 18, 2025

Unlike Calvin and Deemer, who advertised their weirdness from a hundred yards away, Jordan kept his face so empty that the emptiness alone was menacing.

From "Eleven" by Tom Rogers

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023