vacuous

[ vak-yoo-uhs ]

See synonyms for: vacuous vacuousness on Thesaurus.com

adjective

without contents; empty: the vacuous air.
lacking in ideas or intelligence: a vacuous mind.

expressing or characterized by a lack of ideas or intelligence; inane; stupid: a vacuous book.
purposeless; idle: a vacuous way of life.

Origin of vacuous

1645–55; from Latin vacuus “empty”; see -ous

Other words from vacuous

vac·u·ous·ly, adverb
vac·u·ous·ness, noun
non·vac·u·ous, adjective
non·vac·u·ous·ly, adverb
non·vac·u·ous·ness, noun
un·vac·u·ous, adjective
un·vac·u·ous·ly, adverb
un·vac·u·ous·ness, noun

Words that may be confused with vacuous

vacant, vacuous

Words Nearby vacuous

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use vacuous in a sentence

Instead, the film includes a lineup of Kipchoge admirers describing his greatness in the same lofty, but ultimately vacuous terms that we’ve heard a thousand times before.
The New Kipchoge Documentary Is a Superfluous Delight | mmirhashem | August 20, 2021 | Outside Online
The Daily Telegraph's Lisa Armstrong called the show a "stupendously vacuous enterprise."
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian’s Balmain Campaign: High Fashion Meets Low Culture | Amy Zimmerman | December 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
In the tape, the bull looks bored, wearing that peculiarly vacuous expression that only cows and bulls can know.
The Death of a Rodeo Cowboy | Peter Richmond | May 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Smith speaks with perfect articulation and a vacuous undertone laces her words.
Shakespeare’s Movie Magic | Marina Watts, Malcolm Jones | April 24, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The assumption that feminism comes in a neat, Xeroxable package is gravely outmoded and vacuous.
Despite What You May Think, Miley Cyrus and Rihanna Are Feminists | Rawiya Kameir | November 21, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST

Speaking of Daisy, Mulligan does as elegant a job as possible portraying such a vacuous character.
The Great Gatsby, Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Is a Relentless Assault on the Senses | Marlow Stern | May 8, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
"It comes to this," drawled Average Jones intently, looking the employee between his vacuous eyes.
Average Jones | Samuel Hopkins Adams
Gossip must often have been likened to the winged insect bearing pollen to the flowers; it fertilizes many a vacuous reverie.
Lord Ormont and his Aminta, Complete | George Meredith
Lady Mary smiled at this vacuous repetition, but her mother went into a great rage, opening her old jaws like a maddened horse.
The O'Ruddy | Stephen Crane
She submitted to the other's will like a tired child, dropping into a chair and eyeing him with a vacuous expression.
The Substitute Prisoner | Max Marcin
She knew neither of them, and they were immature boys, with the empty and vacuous faces of almost degenerate illiteracy.
A Pagan of the Hills | Charles Neville Buck

British Dictionary definitions for vacuous

vacuous

/ (ˈvækjʊəs) /

adjective

containing nothing; empty
bereft of ideas or intelligence; mindless

characterized by or resulting from vacancy of mind: a vacuous gaze
indulging in no useful mental or physical activity; idle
logic maths (of an operator or expression) having no import; idle: in (x) (John is tall) the quantifier (x) is vacuous

Origin of vacuous

C17: from Latin vacuus empty, from vacāre to be empty

Derived forms of vacuous

vacuously, adverb
vacuousness, noun

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

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