EMPTINESS Synonyms: 65 Similar and Opposite Words

emptiness

noun

Definition of emptiness

as in hunger

a need or desire for food the emptiness that usually sets in about three o'clock in the afternoon

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in void

empty space there in the vast emptiness of the desert was a long-abandoned jeep

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in vacancy

the quality or state of being empty the emptiness of the interior of the isolated house just made it seem all the more eerie

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of emptiness Carson’s account of desire helps explain why this creed leads to two kinds of emptiness. — Stacy Keltner, The Conversation, 30 Oct. 2026 Such stylish emptiness is daunting, and one doesn’t envy those who are now being encouraged to try it on for size. — Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2026 In parts of La Guaira, where dozens of buildings collapsed, only emptiness and silence remain. — CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2026 There is an emptiness left behind that cannot be filled, and there are so many of us who will never be quite the same without you. — Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 14 Oct. 2026 Occasional moments of real, spontaneous joy emerge, and others reveal the crushing emptiness of lives going nowhere, but the script doesn’t lean too hard in either direction. — Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 9 Oct. 2026 In all of the sketchbook entries reproduced here, Ross seems to offer a bridge between the representation of emptiness and the lived sensation of it. — Ryan Sullivan, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026 Treating emptiness as sophistication becomes incapable of distinguishing moral from aesthetic judgment. — Frank Porcu, New York Daily News, 20 Sep. 2026 Markets have seen through the emptiness of Bessent’s remedy, as ‘bond vigilantes’ have driven bond yields even higher despite Bessent’s band-aids. — Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 10 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for emptiness

Noun

Driven by hunger, the pirates sailed through an opening the war in Iran blew wide open.

— David Goldman, CNN Money, 29 Oct. 2026
To satisfy an immediate hunger, Sake has 20 appetizers spanning from yakitori, takoyaki, and edamame.

— Emma Hall, Sacbee.com, 29 Oct. 2026

Definition of hunger

Noun

In the months that followed, Julian Lage, Joel Paterson, Jad Tarik, and now Seal have stepped in to fill the void in various permutations.

— Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 26 Oct. 2026
And that’s what makes a player such as Kapanen such a natural fit to step into a massive void left by the team’s captain and conscience.

— Arpon Basu, New York Times, 24 Oct. 2026

Definition of void

Noun

Jeske, who heads the Quantum Sensing Group at Fraunhofer at the research institute, was the the first to come up with a theoretical model for a magnetic-field-sensitive laser system using diamond with nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers a decade ago.

— Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 22 Oct. 2026
The White House’s press secretary vacancy won’t necessarily keep the briefing room closed.

— Shelby Talcott, semafor.com, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of vacancy

Noun

The infants would be able to feed to their stomachs’ content on the increasingly ripe meat without getting close to finishing the entire spread laid before them.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 27 Oct. 2026
Their 8-year-old son was alive, but had been shot in the stomach.

— Matt Schooley, CBS News, 27 Oct. 2026

Definition of stomach

Noun

Elsewhere, Huston exudes a terrifying blankness while writing his Spinoza magnum opus paper dressed literally in a suit with an upright piano in the room, and a Chekhov’s google search of Nembutal in his browser history.

— Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 4 Sep. 2026
Not only do the records feature scuff marks and price tags, but poems and doodles—as if the blankness was begging to be filled in.

— Emily Watlington, ARTnews.com, 24 May 2026

Definition of blankness

Noun

Menon has now logged 26 hours and 31 minutes working in the vacuum of space during his current stay on the space station.

— Robert Z. Pearlman, Space.com, 29 Oct. 2026
Each has assumed a new place of influence within the Democratic Party over the last two years, filling a power vacuum created by President Joe Biden’s exit from the political stage.

— David Sivak, The Washington Examiner, 28 Oct. 2026

Definition of vacuum

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empties

emptiness

empty

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“Emptiness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/emptiness. Accessed 2 Nov. 2026.

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Synonyms of emptiness

noun

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