empty word

American  

noun

1. (especially in Chinese grammar) a word or morpheme that has no lexical meaning and that functions as a grammatical link or marker, rather than as a contentive.

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Etymology

Origin of empty word

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

And there’s a tone of end-times mourning to Coco Fusco’s “Your Eyes Will Be an Empty Word,” a narrated video tour of Hart Island, the vast public cemetery in the East River that has, for over a century, received the bodies of New York City’s unclaimed dead, now including Covid victims.

From New York Times

Without transparency — and in the submarine deal there was none — alliance, in the French view, becomes an empty word.

From New York Times

“Courage” is no empty word here.

From Washington Post

Trump is trying to do it again, repeating the word "Obamagate" like a wind-up toy monkey, in hopes that the media will take the hint and start to populate this empty word with details that make it sound like a real scandal.

From Salon

There were no attendance marks, no coursework requirements, no pop quizzes or midterms or topic proposals: just you, your thoughts, and your empty Word document.

From Slate