vacancy

noun

va·​can·​cy ˈvā-kən(t)-sē 

plural vacancies

1

: a vacant office, post, or tenancy

2

a

: a vacating of an office, post, or piece of property

b

: the time such office or property is vacant

3

: physical or mental inactivity or relaxation : idleness

4

: empty space : void

specifically : an unoccupied site for an atom or ion in a crystal

5

: the state of being vacant : vacuity

6

archaic : an interval of leisure

Synonyms

• black hole
• blank
• blankness
• emptiness
• vacuity
• void

Examples of vacancy in a Sentence

School administrators are trying to fill vacancies before the beginning of the school year.

There were no vacancies at the hotel.

Recent Examples on the Web

The committee didn’t vote on implementations, but office vacancies aren’t going away. —Desiree Mathurin, Charlotte Observer, 13 Jan. 2025

Texas prisons were so short staffed in 2023 that the state spent $14 million on rental cars and hotels shuffling existing staff around the state to cover shortages at other prisons to cover a 30% shortfall in filling vacancies. —Walter Pavlo, Forbes, 11 Jan. 2025

Office vacancies hit a new high last year, with 20.4% of office space in the country's top 50 metro areas empty, per Moody's latest tally. —Emily Peck, Axios, 10 Jan. 2025

In the two decades before DeSantis took office, 15 legislative vacancies occurred because a state lawmaker resigned to run for another office, according to the lawsuit. —Dara Kam, Orlando Sentinel, 10 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

vac(ant) + -ancy, in part after Medieval Latin vacantia

First Known Use

1598, in the meaning defined at sense 6

Kids Definition

vacancy

noun

va·​can·​cy ˈvā-kən-sē 

plural vacancies

1

: something (as an office or hotel room) that is vacant

2

: empty space

3

: the state of being vacant