Empty — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

adjective verb noun /ˈem(p)-tē/ emp·ty

Meaning & Definition of Empty

Empty (adjective)

  1. containing nothing
  2. not occupied or inhabited
  3. unfrequented

Empty (verb)

  1. to make empty, remove the contents of
  2. deprive, divest
  3. to discharge (itself) of contents

Empty (noun)

  1. something (such as a bottle or can) that is empty

Empty (adjective) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. lacking contents that could or should be present

    "the refrigerator is empty, so we'll have to eat out"

    similar: bare, blank, clean, devoid, stark, toom (chiefly Scottish), vacant, vacuous, void
    related: barren, hollow, available, clear, free, open, unfilled, unfurnished, unattended, uninhabited, unoccupied, abandoned, deserted, emptied, forsaken, vacated, depleted, drained, dry, exhausted
    opposite: full
    near: complete, replete, furnished, provided, supplied, filled, occupied, flush, overflowing, packed, teeming

  2. feeling a desire or need for food

    "as the long car trip wore on, we all started to feel a little empty"

    similar: famished, hungry, peckish (chiefly British), starved, starving
    related: rapacious, ravenous, voracious, wolfish, malnourished, underfed, undernourished, gluttonous, gormandizing, greedy, hoggish, insatiable, piggish, piggy
    opposite: full, sated, satiate, satiated, satisfied
    near: engorged, glutted, gorged, overfed, overfull, overstuffed, replete, stuffed, surfeited

  3. having no meaning

    "spare me your empty apologies because if you were truly sorry, you'd change"

    similar: inane, meaningless, pointless, senseless
    related: frivolous, inconsequential, inconsiderable, insignificant, little, minor, negligible, slight, trifling, trivial, unimportant, absurd, asinine, balmy, brainless, crackpot, crazy, cuckoo, daffy, daft, dotty, empty-headed, fatuous, foolish, half-witted, harebrained, insane, jerky, kooky, loony, mad, mindless, nonsensical, nutty, preposterous, sappy, silly, simpleminded, stupid, tomfool, unintelligent, unwise, wacky, weak-minded, witless, zany, irrational, unreasonable, aimless, haphazard, purposeless
    opposite: meaningful, significant
    near: eloquent, expressive, pregnant, revealing, suggestive, telling, logical, rational, reasonable, valid, consequential, eventful, important, key, major, momentous, substantial, weighty

  4. having no usefulness

    "an empty task that was assigned just to keep us busy"

    similar: chaffy, junky, no-good, null, vain, valueless, worthless
    related: base, cheap, cheapjack, duff (British), inferior, lousy, low-grade, second-rate, bad, defective, dud, flawed, imperfect, substandard, unsatisfactory, deficient, inadequate, insufficient, unacceptable
    opposite: useful, valuable, worthy
    near: invaluable, precious, priceless, cherished, esteemed, prized, treasured, choice, exceptional, fancy, high-grade, special

  5. producing no results

    "all of the leads in the missing-person case were turning up empty"

    similar: abortive, barren, bootless, fruitless, futile, ineffective, ineffectual, inefficacious, otiose, profitless, unavailing, unproductive, unprofitable, unsuccessful, useless, vain, in vain, no dice, not worth the candle, of no avail
    related: hollow, idle, meaningless, pointless, valueless, worthless, hopeless, impossible, lost, no-win, unattainable, inadequate, insufficient, lacking, wanting, counterproductive
    opposite: deadly, effective, effectual, efficacious, efficient, fruitful, potent, productive, profitable, successful, virtuous
    near: meaningful, worthwhile, adequate, sufficient, applicable, feasible, functional, practicable, practical, realizable, usable, workable

  6. not expressing any emotion

    "the speaker looked out at a crowd of empty faces"

    similar: blank, catatonic, deadpan, expressionless, impassive, inexpressive, numb, stolid, vacant
    related: dull, vacuous, vague, vapid, enigmatic, impenetrable, inscrutable, mysterious, motionless, static, still, wooden, reserved, restrained, reticent, taciturn, aloof, apathetic, cold, cool, detached, indifferent, phlegmatic, unresponsive
    opposite: demonstrative, expressive
    near: engaged, interested, responsive, active, alive, animated, bright, busy, dynamic, effervescent, energetic, expansive, exuberant, lively, vivacious, eloquent, revealing, revelatory, gestic, gesticulant, gesticulative, gesticulatory, gestural, emotional, melodramatic, theatrical, unreserved, unrestrained

Empty (verb) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. to remove the contents of

    "empty the room before starting to paint the ceiling"

    similar: clear, evacuate, vacate, void
    related: deplete, drain, eliminate, exhaust, waste, bleed, draw (off), clean, flush, purge, scour, sweep
    opposite: fill, load

Related Entry: Empty-headed (adjective)

Empty-headed is a different word from Empty. The synonyms below are for empty-headed, not for empty.

  1. not having or showing an ability to absorb ideas readily

    "got tired of being treated like an empty-headed lackey and quit to start a business"

    similar: airheaded, birdbrained, bonehead, boneheaded, brain-dead, brainless, bubbleheaded, chuckleheaded, dense, dim, dim-witted, doltish, dopey, dorky (slang), dull, dumb, dunderheaded, fatuous, gormless (chiefly British), half-witted, knuckleheaded, lamebrain, lunkheaded, mindless, oafish, obtuse, opaque, pinheaded, senseless, simple, slow, slow-witted, soft, softheaded, stupid, thick, thick-witted, thickheaded, unintelligent, unsmart, vacuous, weak-minded, witless
    related: cretinous, feebleminded, simpleminded, boobish, foolish, idiotic, imbecile, moronic, ignorant, illiterate, lowbrow, uneducated, uninformed, unintellectual, untaught, unthinking, absurd, asinine, balmy, cockeyed, crackpot, crazy, cuckoo, daffy, daft, dippy, dotty, featherheaded, fool, half-baked, harebrained, insane, kooky, loony, mad, nonsensical, nutty, preposterous, sappy, screwball, silly, tomfool, unwise, wacky, zany, fallacious, illogical, invalid, irrational, unreasonable
    opposite: apt, brainy, bright, brilliant, clever, fast, hyperintelligent, intelligent, keen, nimble, quick, quick-witted, sharp, sharp-witted, smart, supersmart, ultrasmart
    near: ingenious, resourceful, acute, astute, discerning, insightful, keen, knowing, perceptive, percipient, perspicacious, sagacious, sage, sapient, savvy, wise, cerebral, erudite, highbrow, intellectual, knowledgeable, learned, literate, scholarly, thinking, well-read, educated, informed, schooled, skilled, trained, crafty, cunning, foxy, shrewd, wily, judicious, prudent, sane, sensible, sound, logical, rational, reasonable, valid

Related Entry: Come up empty (phrase)

Come up empty is a different word from Empty. The synonyms below are for come up empty, not for empty.

  1. to be unsuccessful

    "We searched for a viable candidate but came up empty."

    similar: bomb, collapse, crater, fail, flame out, flop, flunk, fold, founder, miss, strike out, tank, wash out, come a cropper, come to grief, die on the vine, fall flat, fall on one's face, fall short, lay an egg
    related: flounder, struggle, decline, sink, skid, slip, slump, wane, crash, crumble, miscarry, misfire, go under, implode, self-destruct
    opposite: click, come off, deliver, go, go over, pan out, succeed, work out
    near: cook, flourish, prosper, thrive, prevail, triumph, win

Related Entry: Came up empty (phrase)

Came up empty is a different word from Empty. The synonyms below are for came up empty, not for empty.

  1. to be unsuccessful

    "We searched for a viable candidate but came up empty."

    similar: bombed, collapsed, cratered, failed, flamed out, flopped, flunked, folded, foundered, missed, struck out, tanked, washed out, came a cropper, came to grief, died on the vine, fell flat, fell on one's face, fell short, laid an egg
    related: floundered, struggled, declined, sank, skidded, slipped, slumped, waned, crashed, crumbled, miscarried, misfired, went under, imploded, self-destructed
    opposite: came off, clicked, delivered, panned out, succeeded, went, went over, worked out
    near: cooked, flourished, prospered, thrived, prevailed, triumphed, won

Related Entry: Comes up empty (phrase)

Comes up empty is a different word from Empty. The synonyms below are for comes up empty, not for empty.

  1. to be unsuccessful

    "We searched for a viable candidate but came up empty."

    similar: bombs, collapses, craters, fails, flames out, flops, flunks, folds, founders, misses, strikes out, tanks, washes out, comes a cropper, comes to grief, dies on the vine, falls flat, falls on one's face, falls short, lays an egg
    related: flounders, struggles, declines, sinks, skids, slips, slumps, wanes, crashes, crumbles, miscarries, misfires, goes under, implodes, self-destructs
    opposite: clicks, comes off, delivers, goes, goes over, pans out, succeeds, works out
    near: cooks, flourishes, prospers, thrives, prevails, triumphs, wins

Related Entry: Coming up empty (phrase)

Coming up empty is a different word from Empty. The synonyms below are for coming up empty, not for empty.

  1. to be unsuccessful

    "We searched for a viable candidate but came up empty."

    similar: bombing, collapsing, cratering, failing, flaming out, flopping, flunking, folding, foundering, missing, striking out, tanking, washing out, coming a cropper, coming to grief, dying on the vine, falling flat, falling on one's face, falling short, laying an egg
    related: floundering, struggling, declining, sinking, skidding, slipping, slumping, waning, crashing, crumbling, miscarrying, misfiring, going under, imploding, self-destructing
    opposite: clicking, coming off, delivering, going, going over, panning out, succeeding, working out
    near: cooking, flourishing, prospering, thriving, prevailing, triumphing, winning

Synonyms, Thesaurus & Another Word for Empty

The most common words with a similar meaning to Empty:

Chiefly Scottish: toom
Chiefly British: peckish
bare, blank, clean, devoid, stark, vacant, vacuous, void, famished, hungry, starved, starving, inane, meaningless, pointless, senseless, chaffy, junky, no-good, null, vain, valueless, worthless, abortive, barren, bootless, fruitless, futile, ineffective, ineffectual, inefficacious, otiose, profitless, unavailing, unproductive, unprofitable, unsuccessful, useless, catatonic, deadpan

Antonyms & Opposite Words for Empty

Words with the opposite meaning of Empty:

full, sated, satiate, satiated, satisfied, meaningful, significant, useful, valuable, worthy, deadly, effective, effectual, efficacious, efficient, fruitful, potent, productive, profitable, successful, virtuous, demonstrative, expressive, fill, load

Related Words for Empty

hollow, available, free, open, unfilled, unfurnished, unattended, uninhabited, unoccupied, abandoned, deserted, emptied, forsaken, vacated, depleted, drained, dry, exhausted, rapacious, ravenous, voracious, wolfish, malnourished, underfed, undernourished, gluttonous, gormandizing, greedy, hoggish, insatiable

Near Antonyms of Empty

complete, replete, furnished, provided, supplied, filled, occupied, flush, overflowing, packed, teeming, engorged, glutted, gorged, overfed, overfull, overstuffed, stuffed, surfeited, eloquent, pregnant, revealing, suggestive, telling, logical, rational, reasonable, valid, consequential, eventful

Word Forms of Empty

Inflections: emptier, emptiest, emptied, emptying, empties

Derived words: emptily (adverb), emptiness (noun)

Origin & Etymology of Empty

Middle English, from Old English ǣmettig unoccupied, from ǣmetta leisure, perhaps from ǣ- without + -metta (probably akin to mōtan to have to) must

First known use: before 12th century

Vocabulary Lists & Topics for Empty

Words & Phrases Containing Empty

empty calories, empty-handed, empty-headed, empty nester, empty-nest syndrome, empty suit, empty into

Frequently Asked Questions about Empty

What does "Empty" mean?

"Empty" means containing nothing. As an an adjective, a verb and a noun, it is defined as: containing nothing. It has 7 distinct senses.

What is another word for "Empty"?

Other words for "Empty" include bare, blank, clean, devoid, stark, toom, vacant and vacuous. The best synonym depends on which meaning of "Empty" you intend.

What are different ways to say "Empty"?

There are 199 words and phrases with a similar meaning to "Empty". Common alternatives include bare, blank, clean, devoid, stark, toom, vacant, vacuous, void and famished.

What is the opposite of "Empty"?

Antonyms of "Empty" include full, sated, satiate, satiated, satisfied, meaningful, significant and useful. Near antonyms include complete, replete, furnished and provided.

How do you use "Empty" in a sentence?

Examples of "Empty" in a sentence: "the refrigerator is empty, so we'll have to eat out"; "as the long car trip wore on, we all started to feel a little empty"; "spare me your empty apologies because if you were truly sorry, you'd change".

Is "Empty" a noun, verb, or adjective?

"Empty" can be used as an adjective, a verb and a noun, depending on the context.

Is "Empty" useful for IELTS, TOEFL, and other English exams?

As an A2-level word, "Empty" is typical of Cambridge A2 Key (KET), PTE Academic 30–42, TOEIC Listening & Reading 225+.

How do you pronounce "Empty"?

"Empty" is pronounced /ˈem(p)-tē/ and divided into syllables as emp·ty.