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

He said he became unable to cope and considered taking his life, saying: "I didn’t really feel anything, I just felt empty."

From BBC

Now that the 2024 election is over and Trump will be returning to the White House, it is even more important that President Biden do as I urged him to do last July and use his clemency power to empty the federal death row.

From Slate

I don’t know how I could have been that cynical at 22 but I had already experienced a year or two of empty promises and the bull— that is this business.

From Los Angeles Times

But as director Peter Brook reminds us in “The Empty Space,” “If you just let a play speak, it may not make a sound. If what you want is for the play to be heard, then you must conjure the sound from it.”

From Los Angeles Times

During one production, shot near a creek where families picnicked, he watched the same depressing scene play out day after day: The adults would drink, gamble, fight and fling empty soju bottles, while the children would catch minnows in the water, occasionally cutting their feet on the broken glass.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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