empty calories
plural noun
: calories from food that supply energy but have little or no nutritional value
Examples of empty calories in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
McDonald’s sells over 200 million cartons a year, so this change effectively removed and continues to remove over a billion empty calories from the American diet every year.
—
Seth Goldman, Baltimore Sun, 9 Mar. 2025
Margaritas, beer, soda pop and punch all contain lots of empty calories.
—Fred Sassani, Austin American-Statesman, 22 Nov. 2024
Many times, loaded cereal adds empty calories through additional fat and sugar.
—Sohaib Imtiaz, Verywell Health, 22 Jan. 2025
And the empty calories can increase your risk of heart disease, obesity, diabetes and cancer.
—Rachel Carlson, NPR, 13 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for empty calories
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.
Seth Goldman, Baltimore Sun, 9 Mar. 2025
Margaritas, beer, soda pop and punch all contain lots of empty calories.
—Fred Sassani, Austin American-Statesman, 22 Nov. 2024
Many times, loaded cereal adds empty calories through additional fat and sugar.
—Sohaib Imtiaz, Verywell Health, 22 Jan. 2025
And the empty calories can increase your risk of heart disease, obesity, diabetes and cancer.
—Rachel Carlson, NPR, 13 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for empty calories
Cite this Entry
“Empty calories.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/empty%20calories. Accessed 25 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share