1
as in devoid
lacking contents that could or should be present
the refrigerator is empty, so we'll have to eat out
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of empty
Jon Gambrell, Los Angeles Times, 6 Jan. 2026
But with Gustavsson on the bench for an extra attacker, Adrian Kempe’s empty net goal sealed the result.
—Jess Myers, Twin Cities, 6 Jan. 2026
Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 6 Jan. 2026
Amid reports of price gouging, some shelves across the country have started to empty.
—Michael Rios, CNN Money, 6 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for empty
Adjective
Many have complained about shelves being empty in stores, likely as suppliers and merchants fear selling cooking oil at a loss.
—Jon Gambrell, Los Angeles Times, 6 Jan. 2026
But with Gustavsson on the bench for an extra attacker, Adrian Kempe’s empty net goal sealed the result.
—Jess Myers, Twin Cities, 6 Jan. 2026
Verb
Its first season’s defining set piece plunged the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center’s emergency department into the aftermath of a mass shooting, an act of narrative escalation that felt like the writers’ room emptying its reserves.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 6 Jan. 2026
Amid reports of price gouging, some shelves across the country have started to empty.
—Michael Rios, CNN Money, 6 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for empty
Recent Examples of Synonyms for empty
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 are a handful of of others, like dYdX, that offer crypto derivatives to risk-hungry traders who don’t want to venture onto centralized exchanges like Coinbase.—
Ben Weiss,
Fortune,
12 Jan. 2026
-
Unfortunately, hungry deer are quite capable of nipping off every growing tip on a young lilac and all the buds set last year, leaving you with no blooms in spring.—
Andy Wilcox,
Better Homes & Gardens,
12 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Diplomacy is preferable, but diplomacy without credibility is meaningless.—
Jason D. Greenblatt,
semafor.com,
9 Jan. 2026
-
Sadly, these beliefs become meaningless when college turns into a test of how much a person can endure instead of a career path.—
Liam McCusker,
Hartford Courant,
7 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The gain from a call option would exceed the return on the stock alone, but involves greater risk than simply buying the stock because the contracts can expire worthless.—
Liz Napolitano,
CNBC,
7 Jan. 2026
-
When Ukraine agreed to give up the nuclear weapons on its soil in the mid-1990s, Russia provided a security guarantee that proved worthless.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
6 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The 49ers went three and out on their next two possessions and were unsuccessful on throws outside the numbers after hitting the middle of the field with three completions on the scoring drive.—
Chris Biderman,
Sacbee.com,
12 Jan. 2026
-
Efforts to find footage of what happened on social media and through surveillance cameras have been unsuccessful.—
Louis Casiano,
FOXNews.com,
12 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The 166-piece set includes 36 dot, bam, and crack tiles, 12 dragons, 16 winds, 16 flowers, 10 jokers, and four blank spare tiles made from melamine.—
Maggie Horton,
PEOPLE,
8 Jan. 2026
-
The system adapts to tone and intent without forcing app switching or blank-page starts.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
The surrounding businesses were evacuated by El Monte police as the investigation continued.—
Dean Fioresi,
CBS News,
13 Jan. 2026
-
Local newspaper TimesLIVE reported that authorities warned residents across the region to evacuate as firefighters battle multiple blazes.—
Mekishana Pierre,
Entertainment Weekly,
12 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
In the 19th century, guano miners razed the place, removing most of the topsoil and leaving behind barren rock.—
Susan Casey,
Travel + Leisure,
10 Jan. 2026
-
The next two teams on this list find themselves in eerily similar situations, from barren rosters to enviable cap space to hope at the quarterback position.—
Peter Sblendorio,
New York Daily News,
10 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Empty.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/empty. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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