vacuous

[ vak-yoo-uhs ]

adjective

1. without contents; empty:

   the vacuous air.

2. lacking in ideas or intelligence:

   a vacuous mind.

3. expressing or characterized by a lack of ideas or intelligence; inane; stupid:

   a vacuous book.

4. purposeless; idle:

   a vacuous way of life.

vacuous

/ ˈvækjʊəs /

adjective

1. containing nothing; empty
2. bereft of ideas or intelligence; mindless
3. characterized by or resulting from vacancy of mind

   a vacuous gaze

4. indulging in no useful mental or physical activity; idle
5. logic maths (of an operator or expression) having no import; idle: in (x) (John is tall) the quantifier (x) is vacuous

Derived Forms

• ˈvacuousness, noun
• ˈvacuously, adverb

Other Words From

• 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of vacuous¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of vacuous¹

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

Example Sentences

It's the story of Cohn, who at the top of his game adopts and mentors the vacuous and malleable Donald Trump.

From Salon

Instead, public discussions of racist and white supremacist behavior and values all too often default to silly, vacuous, and intellectually immature discussions of intent and what is in some white person’s heart or bones.

From Salon

They’ve been pretty vacuous, like the recent forays into “how have artists around the world used different kinds of stone?” and “what is a 17th-century Dutch collector’s cabinet?”

From Los Angeles Times

As I wrote last year, Bankman-Fried exploited the vacuity of crypto by slathering it over with what sounded like profundities but were vacuous at their core.

From Los Angeles Times

Pike’s Lady Elspeth is like the British estate she roams: rich, dazzling and vacuous.

From Los Angeles Times