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 of vacancy

• 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

And that process must begin by creating the sort of roster vacancies Vancouver’s younger players can aspire to fill, or various value-free agents the Canucks may target when the market opens next week might fill — and in so doing, perhaps, add value themselves to Vancouver’s portfolio. —Thomas Drance, New York Times, 23 June 2026

Rather than automatically appointing Aiello, supervisors chose a competitive appointment process to fill the vacancy until the November 2028 election. —Daniel Lempres, Sacbee.com, 23 June 2026

In a city already destabilized by unlawful tax foreclosure, fraudsters found opportunity in homes burdened by vacancy and broken chains of ownership. —Donovan McCarty, The Conversation, 22 June 2026

There was already one vacancy with righty Andrew Painter being optioned (on Wednesday). —Peter Chawaga, Forbes.com, 19 June 2026

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