vacate

verb

ˈvā-ˌkāt How to pronounce vacate (audio)
Definition of vacatenext
1
as in to abolish
to put an end to by formal action the contract was vacated by the court on the grounds that the signer was underage

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to evacuate
to remove the contents of vacated the house

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 vacate Werner Kunkel spent more than 30 years in prison on a murder conviction that a state court vacated earlier this year. — ABC News, 21 Sep. 2026 That restaurant took over and renovated the former Arby’s location vacated last year. — Teresa Stepzinski, Florida Times-Union, 20 Sep. 2026 The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court last month vacated the murder conviction of Brockton mother Latarsha Sanders, ruling jurors were improperly prevented from seeing psychiatric records central to her insanity defense and ordering a new trial. — Greg Wehner, FOXNews.com, 18 Sep. 2026 Kiley proposed a change that would allow representatives to keep their existing assignments rather than forcing them to vacate their seats. — Noe Padilla, USA Today, 17 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for vacate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vacate
  1. abolish
  2. evacuate
  3. cancel
  4. empty
  5. repeal
  6. clear
  7. overturn
  8. avoid
Verb
  • The vice president also blasted Nixon, who is in an uphill race to defeat Moody, for supporting defunding the police and abolishing prisons.
    — Mabinty Quarshie, The Washington Examiner, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Coleman later joins forces with HopesAndDrums for a house mix that calls for abolishing ICE.
    — Andrea Flores, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of abolish
Verb
  • The arrests occurred near the village of Whelford, roughly 2 miles from the base, and Gloucestershire police evacuated local residents to a nearby leisure center.
    — Brady Knox, The Washington Examiner, 27 Sep. 2026
  • Police cordoned off three trucks at the scene and evacuated about 85 households as bomb-disposal specialists and the army investigated.
    — Pan Pylas, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2026
Definition of evacuate
Verb
  • Cage previously starred in the first two Ghost Rider movies, a franchise now being revived by Ryan Gosling, and as Spider-Noir in both the animated Beyond the Spider-Verse films and the live-action series Prime Video just canceled.
    — Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2026
  • One Elk Grove City Council race is on the ballot this November, after two other races were canceled and the incumbents were appointed to new terms because no challengers filed to run.
    — Camryn Dadey, Sacbee.com, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of cancel
Verb
  • The turnout testified to the church’s lasting influence in France despite declining attendance and secularizing trends that have emptied churches across Europe.
    — Nicole Winfield, Los Angeles Times, 26 Sep. 2026
  • Another man slept with a urinal hanging off his bed, and a bucket underneath to empty the urinal, records say.
    — Carol Marbin Miller, Miami Herald, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of empty
Verb
  • Trump’s proclamation would have delayed compliance with the tougher standards from 2027 until 2029, though EPA ultimately repealed them in February.
    — Luke Fountain, CNBC, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Their best option would be to present a motion at the County Commission’s first October meeting to repeal the ordinance establishing the force.
    — Zoey Thomas, Miami Herald, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of repeal
Verb
  • By the time the ceremony began, the skies had thankfully cleared.
    — Alexandra Macon, Vogue, 28 Sep. 2026
  • After a cool and unsettled weekend, warmer weather is expected to return this week, with skies clearing Tuesday and temperatures climbing into the mid-80s by Thursday and Friday before another change brings cooler, wetter conditions for the weekend.
    — The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Sun, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of clear
Verb
  • Walker’s Harley-Davidson struck the deer near Beaverdam Road, overturned, skidded crossed the center line and ran off the road, Freeman said.
    — Mark Price, Charlotte Observer, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Stepping in for an absentee Congress, Democratic attorneys general are ready to fight efforts to undermine or overturn the midterm balloting.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2026
Definition of overturn
Verb
  • Expecting heavy traffic on the site, the archive has outsourced the database to external servers to avoid overloading its own.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 30 Sep. 2026
  • The people familiar with the discussions spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid retribution from the administration.
    — Rick Maese, Washington Post, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of avoid

Browse Nearby Words

vacantness
vacate
vacated
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Vacate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vacate. Accessed 2 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of heterodox

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 2

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All