empty

[ emp-tee ]

adjective

, emp·ti·er, emp·ti·est.

1. containing nothing; having none of the usual or appropriate contents:

   an empty bottle.

   Antonyms: full

2. having no occupant or occupants; vacant; unoccupied:

   an empty house.

3. without cargo or load:

   an empty wagon.

4. destitute of people or human activity:

   We walked along the empty streets of the city at night.

5. destitute of some quality or qualities; devoid (usually followed by of ):

   Theirs is a life now empty of happiness.

6. without force, effect, or significance; hollow; meaningless:

   empty compliments;

   empty pleasures.

   Synonyms: vain, useless, pointless, ineffectual, ineffective, futile, bootless, barren

7. not employed in useful activity or work; idle:

   empty summer days.

8. Mathematics. (of a set) containing no elements; null; void.
9. hungry:

   I'm feeling rather empty—let's have lunch.

10. without knowledge or sense; frivolous; senseless:

    an empty head.

11. completely spent of emotion:

    The experience had left him with an empty heart.

verb (used with object)

, emp·tied, emp·ty·ing.

1. to make empty; deprive of contents; discharge the contents of:

   to empty a bucket.

   Synonyms: unload, clear

2. to discharge (contents):

   to empty the water out of a bucket.

verb (used without object)

, emp·tied, emp·ty·ing.

1. to become empty:

   The room emptied rapidly after the lecture.

2. to discharge contents, as a river:

   The river empties into the sea.

noun

, plural emp·ties.

1. Informal. something that is empty, as a box, bottle, or can:

   Throw the empties into the waste bin.

empty

/ ˈɛmptɪ /

adjective

1. containing nothing
2. without inhabitants; vacant or unoccupied
3. carrying no load, passengers, etc
4. without purpose, substance, or value

   an empty life

5. insincere or trivial

   empty words

6. not expressive or vital; vacant

   she has an empty look

7. informal.
   hungry
8. postpositivefoll byof devoid; destitute

   a life empty of happiness

9. informal.
   drained of energy or emotion

   after the violent argument he felt very empty

10. maths logic (of a set or class) containing no members
11. philosophy logic (of a name or description) having no reference

verb

1. to make or become empty
2. whenintr, foll by into to discharge (contents)
3. troften foll byof to unburden or rid (oneself)

   to empty oneself of emotion

noun

1. an empty container, esp a bottle

Derived Forms

• ˈemptiable, adjective
• ˈemptier, noun
• ˈemptily, adverb
• ˈemptiness, noun

Other Words From

• emp·ti·a·ble adjective
• emp·ti·er noun
• emp·ti·ly adverb
• emp·ti·ness noun
• o·ver·emp·ty adjective
• qua·si-emp·ty adjective
• self-emp·ty·ing adjective
• un·emp·tied adjective
• un·emp·ty adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of empty¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English (with intrusive -p- ); Old English ǣm(et)tig “vacant,” from ǣm(et)ta “rest, leisure” ( ǣ- a- ³ + unattested Germanic mōtithō “accommodation”; must ¹, meet ¹ ) + -ig -y ¹ )

Word History and Origins

Origin of empty¹

Old English ǣmtig, from æmetta free time, from æ- without + -metta, from mōtan to be obliged to; see must ¹

Idioms and Phrases

• glass is half full (half empty)
• running on empty

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

When they went in to check on him they found him lying dead on the bed, with several empty drinks glasses nearby.

From BBC

"My tank is quite empty at the minute," the star told German broadcaster ZDF.

From BBC

Beyond its fabled beaches, Sardinia is not an “empty stage,” as both ancient and modern-day Romans have conceived it.

From Salon

So even older parents, empty nesters, can say, “Oh yeah, that’s true.”

From Los Angeles Times

Indeed when a BBC producer visited the Lwiro hospital earlier this week we found a much calmer scene: the long queues had gone and there were some empty beds in the children's ward.

From BBC

Related Words

• bare
• barren
• blank
• deserted
• desolate
• devoid
• dry
• hollow
• unfilled
• uninhabited
• unoccupied
• vacant

More About Empty

What is a basic definition of empty?

Empty describes something as containing nothing or to remove contents from something. Empty also describes something that is meaningless. Empty has several other senses as an adjective and a verb.

If something is empty, there is nothing in it. Empty is the opposite of full and is used to describe anything that has a complete absence of contents. Sometimes, empty has slightly different specific meanings depending on context. For example, an empty room might only lack people or it might be totally bare, with no furniture. Empty is also used in many figurative expressions, such as “an empty head,” meaning the person is unintelligent.

• Real-life examples: An empty box has nothing inside it. An empty refrigerator has no food or anything else inside of it. An empty gascan has zero gas in it.
• Used in a sentence: Luis drank the bottle of soda until it was totally empty. 

In a similar sense, empty is used as a verb to mean to remove contents from something or to become empty.

• Used in a sentence: Antonio emptied the bucket of water into the river. 

As an adjective, empty can also describe something as being meaningless or hollow.

• Real-life examples: If you give an empty compliment, you don’t actually mean the compliment or believe it to be true. An empty gesture is one that you don’t intend on doing or that won’t have any effect, like offering to help your friend with math when you don’t understand the math problems, either. If you have an empty life, you think your life doesn’t have any meaning or purpose.
• Used in a sentence: My sister laughed at my empty threats of breaking her smartphone because she knew I would never actually do it. 

Where does empty come from?

The first records of empty come from before the 900s. It comes from the Old English ǣmtig, meaning “vacant,” which comes from æmetta, meaning “free time” or “leisure.”

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to empty?

• emptiness (noun)
• emptiable (adjective)
• emptier (noun)
• emptily (adverb)
• overempty (adjective)
• quasi-empty (adjective)
• self-emptiness (noun)
• self-emptying (adjective)
• unemptied (adjective)
• unempty (adjective)

What are some synonyms for empty?

• bare
• devoid
• vacant
• deplete
• purge
• hollow
• meaningless
• ineffective

What are some words that share a root or word element with empty? 

• empty calories
• empty-handed
• empty nest
• running on empty

What are some words that often get used in discussing empty?

• full
• container
• storage
• contents
• gesture
• threat

How is empty used in real life?

Empty is a very common word used to describe things that have nothing in them.

Amazon shipped me an empty box instead of the product I ordered, and now wants me to ship it back to get a refund

— Rogue Dad, M.D. (@RogueDadMD) December 16, 2020

How did I spend my evening, you might ask? A soda can exploded in my fridge and I had to empty it and scrub everything.

— Michelle 🦄 (@MichBell) October 2, 2020

Putin has said he will retaliate if Syria is attacked.

Putin is not known for making empty threats.

Expect Russia to retaliate.

— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) April 14, 2018

Try using empty!

Is empty used correctly in the following sentence?

There was too much paint in the bucket so I emptied it until it was only half-full.