empty calories
plural noun
: calories from food that supply energy but have little or no nutritional value
Examples of empty calories in a Sentence
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Breaks that are high in all four are the equivalent of nutritious and nourishing meals; those that don’t are like empty calories.
—
Gerald J. Leonard, Forbes.com, 15 May 2026
Rock and roll was clearly not a phase, empty calories to consume until the time arrived for heartier fare, but rather something self-sustaining, a means to make a life.
—David L. Ulin, The Atlantic, 11 May 2026
At Olive & Finch, that looks like adding smaller, protein-dense plates to the menu and shedding some of those empty calories.
—Allyson Reedy, Denver Post, 11 Feb. 2026
Which should, but won’t, deter the misguided and shortsighted who will soon succeed in bloating this thing with more empty calories.
—Joe Rexrode, New York Times, 3 Feb. 2026
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Gerald J. Leonard, Forbes.com, 15 May 2026
Rock and roll was clearly not a phase, empty calories to consume until the time arrived for heartier fare, but rather something self-sustaining, a means to make a life.
—David L. Ulin, The Atlantic, 11 May 2026
At Olive & Finch, that looks like adding smaller, protein-dense plates to the menu and shedding some of those empty calories.
—Allyson Reedy, Denver Post, 11 Feb. 2026
Which should, but won’t, deter the misguided and shortsighted who will soon succeed in bloating this thing with more empty calories.
—Joe Rexrode, New York Times, 3 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for empty calories
Cite this Entry
“Empty calories.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empty%20calories. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
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