vacuous

adjective

vac·​u·​ous ˈva-kyə-wəs 

1

: emptied of or lacking content

2

: marked by lack of ideas or intelligence : stupid, inane

a vacuous mind

a vacuous movie

3

: devoid of serious occupation : idle

vacuously adverb

vacuousness noun

Did you know?

As you might have guessed, "vacuous" shares the same root as "vacuum"-the Latin adjective vacuus, meaning "empty." This root also gave us the noun "vacuity" (the oldest meaning of which is "an empty space") as well as the verb "evacuate" (originally meaning "to empty of contents"). Its predecessor, the verb "vacare," is also an ancestor of the words "vacation" and "vacancy" as well as "void." All of these words suggest an emptiness of space, or else a fleeing of people or things from one place to another. "Vacuous" appeared in English in the middle of the 17th century, at first literally describing something that was empty. It acquired its figurative usage, describing one who is lacking any substance of the mind, in the mid-1800s.

Synonyms

• bare
• blank
• clean
• devoid
• empty
• stark
• toom [chiefly Scottish]
• vacant
• void

Choose the Right Synonym for vacuous

empty, vacant, blank, void, vacuous mean lacking contents which could or should be present.

empty suggests a complete absence of contents.

an empty bucket

vacant suggests an absence of appropriate contents or occupants.

a vacant apartment

blank stresses the absence of any significant, relieving, or intelligible features on a surface.

a blank wall

void suggests absolute emptiness as far as the mind or senses can determine.

a statement void of meaning

vacuous suggests the emptiness of a vacuum and especially the lack of intelligence or significance.

a vacuous facial expression

Examples of vacuous in a Sentence

a dull and vacuous movie

He had a vacuous expression on his face.

Recent Examples on the Web

Any clever editor can bend them to accommodate the raison d’etre of all but the most vacuous pieces of journalism. —Andrew Wallenstein, Variety, 11 Dec. 2024

The songs almost never advanced plot, and instead over-indulged in vacuous character study. —Samantha Allen, Them, 4 Oct. 2024

First is Google’s plan to cull low-quality apps from Play Store, which should raise the bar materially and cut out much of the vacuous content littering users’ phones. —Zak Doffman, Forbes, 10 Sep. 2024

Within the party, there is much private grumbling about the demand for loyalty to a vacuous ideology and what is in effect a ban on the discussion of policy. —Andrew J. Nathan, Foreign Affairs, 30 May 2019

Word History

Etymology

Latin vacuus "empty, unoccupied, idle" + -ous — more at vacuum entry 1

First Known Use

circa 1660, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

vacuous

adjective

vac·​u·​ous ˈvak-yə-wəs 

: lacking ideas or intelligence

vacuously adverb