1
as in hunger
a need or desire for food
the emptiness that usually sets in about three o'clock in the afternoon
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Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in void
empty space
there in the vast emptiness of the desert was a long-abandoned jeep
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3
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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1
as in devoid
lacking contents that could or should be present
the refrigerator is empty, so we'll have to eat out
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2
as in hungry
feeling a desire or need for food
as the long car trip wore on, we all started to feel a little empty
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3
as in meaningless
having no meaning
spare me your empty apologies because if you were truly sorry, you'd change
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4
as in worthless
having no usefulness
an empty task that was assigned just to keep us busy
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5
as in unsuccessful
producing no results
all of the leads in the missing-person case were turning up empty
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6
as in blank
not expressing any emotion
the speaker looked out at a crowd of empty faces
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of emptiness
MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Sep. 2025
Drowning in an indescribable emptiness, Day chases Dusk to the throne room and beats the ever-living hell out of him, but Dusk has something Day doesn’t — nanites.
—Rafael Motamayor, Vulture, 12 Sep. 2025
Katie Rosenhouse, Southern Living, 6 Oct. 2025
As the musicians set up onstage, facing the empty row of seats, Campbell began to realize the rationale behind that scenario, even if it wasn’t fully explained to him.
—David Browne, Rolling Stone, 6 Oct. 2025
Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 23 Sep. 2025
Supermarket shelves were emptied in Hong Kong as residents stockpiled supplies in preparation, and video showed similar scenes in the southern Chinese cities of Zhuhai and Shenzhen.
—Helen Regan, CNN Money, 23 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for emptiness
Noun
When people are directed to fill their spiritual emptiness with rage, the social outcome is predictably tragic.
—MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Sep. 2025
Drowning in an indescribable emptiness, Day chases Dusk to the throne room and beats the ever-living hell out of him, but Dusk has something Day doesn’t — nanites.
—Rafael Motamayor, Vulture, 12 Sep. 2025
Adjective
An empty pan can reach dangerously high temperatures in just minutes, causing the coating to break down.
—Katie Rosenhouse, Southern Living, 6 Oct. 2025
As the musicians set up onstage, facing the empty row of seats, Campbell began to realize the rationale behind that scenario, even if it wasn’t fully explained to him.
—David Browne, Rolling Stone, 6 Oct. 2025
Verb
Always empty the reservoir after using the steamer.
—Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 23 Sep. 2025
Supermarket shelves were emptied in Hong Kong as residents stockpiled supplies in preparation, and video showed similar scenes in the southern Chinese cities of Zhuhai and Shenzhen.
—Helen Regan, CNN Money, 23 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for emptiness
Recent Examples of Synonyms for emptiness
Noun
-
Throws out hunger and with it, her period, which never returned.—
Romina Ruiz-Goiriena,
USA Today,
4 Oct. 2025
-
Then, you guys are partnering with the Freestore Foodbank in October to fight childhood hunger?—
David Wysong,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
3 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
But carpe diem for Egbuka, who is a massive enough talent to step into this void and withstand extra defensive attention.—
Michael Salfino,
New York Times,
6 Oct. 2025
-
Aiming to fill a void in the female nerd and nerds of color space on screen, filmmaker Cheyenne Ewulu followed the bat signal.—
Destiny Jackson,
Deadline,
3 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Following his staffers' resignation, Pruitt released a statement that his office already had applicants to fill the vacancies and would continue to carry out its duties.—
Noe Padilla,
IndyStar,
3 Oct. 2025
-
The Giants’ initial list of external candidates is believed to include most of the names that will be popular with other clubs that have managerial vacancies.—
Andrew Baggarly,
New York Times,
2 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Banking has become functionally correct but emotionally devoid, with the industry swimming in a sea of sameness.—
Michael Abbott,
Forbes,
19 Mar. 2025
-
That devoid ingredient hindered things exponentially.—
Roderick Boone,
Charlotte Observer,
15 Feb. 2024
Adjective
-
There was some fatigue in our performance, but the group are always so professional and so hungry to win.—
George Caulkin,
New York Times,
6 Oct. 2025
-
Visibly hungry for a goal, Messi missed an opportunity to join the scoresheet in the 54th minute.—
Franco Panizo,
Miami Herald,
5 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Because the Patriots would go on to score 42 consecutive points before a meaningless touchdown drive by the Panthers in the final minutes, Canales’ head-scratching call the play before Jones’ return has drawn scrutiny.—
Joseph Person,
New York Times,
2 Oct. 2025
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The big numbers coming into the Giants’ otherwise meaningless season finale were 163, 217 and 30.—
Evan Webeck,
Mercury News,
29 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The San Francisco 49ers are running themselves right out of games with all these worthless carries by Christian McCaffrey.—
Michael Salfino,
New York Times,
29 Sep. 2025
-
But these glasses are worthless without a mobile phone.—
Reed Albergotti,
semafor.com,
19 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The pose Harris struck and held through her unsuccessful 2024 campaign for the White House is called the good soldier.—
Jeremy Lott,
The Washington Examiner,
3 Oct. 2025
-
Now, after years of mostly unsuccessful efforts to eliminate windows from cabins, one luxury jet maker appears to be on the verge of doing just that.—
Mack DeGeurin,
Popular Science,
2 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Emptiness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/emptiness. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
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