empty calories

Idioms and Phrases

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

Sip on This You may have heard that alcohol is packed with empty calories, which is true.

From The Daily Beast

This was appropriate because just like her jumbo soda, her twenty minute speech was filled with empty calories.

From The Daily Beast

It is, in other words, a nutritious meal at a moment when so much science writing has made us sick with empty calories.

From The Daily Beast