vacancy

noun

va·​can·​cy ˈvā-kən(t)-sē 

plural vacancies

1

: a vacant office, post, or tenancy

2

a

: a vacating of an office, post, or piece of property

b

: the time such office or property is vacant

3

: physical or mental inactivity or relaxation : idleness

4

: empty space : void

specifically : an unoccupied site for an atom or ion in a crystal

5

: the state of being vacant : vacuity

6

archaic : an interval of leisure

Synonyms

• emptiness
• void

Examples of vacancy in a Sentence

School administrators are trying to fill vacancies before the beginning of the school year.

There were no vacancies at the hotel.

Recent Examples on the Web

But vacancies are increasing across much of the prison system, corrections data show. —Mario Koran, jsonline.com, 12 July 2025

There are also questions about whether critical vacancies at the NWS could have affected emergency response if warnings didn’t make it to the right people. —Danya Gainor, CNN Money, 10 July 2025

The reductions, carried out under the White House's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), impacted hundreds of NOAA and NWS employees, significantly raising vacancy rates at forecast offices. —Anna Skinner, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 July 2025

In May, more than 40% of the country’s weather forecasting offices had staffing vacancy rates above 20%. —Evan Bush, NBC news, 7 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

vac(ant) + -ancy, in part after Medieval Latin vacantia

First Known Use

1598, in the meaning defined at sense 6

Kids Definition

vacancy

noun

va·​can·​cy ˈvā-kən-sē 

plural vacancies

1

: something (as an office or hotel room) that is vacant

2

: empty space

3

: the state of being vacant