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View synonyms for

empty

[emp-tee]

adjective

emptier, emptiest 
  1. containing nothing; having none of the usual or appropriate contents.

    an empty bottle.

    Antonyms:
  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 byof ).

    Theirs is a life now empty of happiness.

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

    empty compliments;

    empty pleasures.

    Synonyms: , , , , , , ,
  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)

emptied, emptying 
  1. to make empty; deprive of contents; discharge the contents of.

    to empty a bucket.

    Synonyms: ,
  2. to discharge (contents).

    to empty the water out of a bucket.

verb (used without object)

emptied, emptying 
  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

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

    Throw the empties into the waste bin.

empty

/ ˈɛɪ /

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. informalhungry

  8. devoid; destitute

    a life empty of happiness

  9. informaldrained 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

“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

verb

  1. to make or become empty

  2. to discharge (contents)

  3. to unburden or rid (oneself)

    to empty oneself of emotion

“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

noun

  1. an empty container, esp a bottle

“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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Other Word Forms

  • emptiable adjective
  • emptier noun
  • emptily adverb
  • emptiness noun
  • overempty adjective
  • quasi-empty adjective
  • self-emptying adjective
  • unemptied adjective
  • unempty adjective
  • ˈ𳾱پ adjective
  • ˈ𳾱پ noun
  • ˈ𳾱پ adverb
  • ˈ𳾱پԱ noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of empty1

First recorded before 900; Middle English (with intrusive -p- ); Old English ǣ()پ “vacant,” from ǣ()ٲ “rest, leisure” ( ǣ- a- 3 + unattested Germanic ōپٳō “adzǻ岹پDz”; must 1, meet 1 ) + -ig -y 1 )
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Word History and Origins

Origin of empty1

Old English ǣپ, from æٳٲ free time, from æ- without + -metta, from ōٲ to be obliged to; see must 1
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Idioms and Phrases

In addition to the idioms beginning with empty, also see glass is half full (half empty); running on empty.
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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.
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

His version of twee has been hollowed out and boiled down to empty platitudes, bereft of any legitimately inspiring or actionable takeaways for the viewer.

From

So far, four wards - including the hostel canteen, the site of the crash - have been completely emptied out.

From

“The streets are empty. Nobody wants to come outside. And kids don’t want to go to school, especially kids who migrated here,” Villa said.

From

Although insured, Mr Reilly and Ms Thomas lost everything in the first flood so the property was empty when it was hit by last night's deluge.

From

But this week, even at what are typically its peak hours, tables sat empty.

From

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When To Use

is a basic definition ofempty?

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. 


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