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Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective vacant contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of vacant are blank, empty, vacuous, and void. While all these words mean "lacking contents which could or should be present," vacant suggests an absence of appropriate contents or occupants.

a vacant apartment

When can blank be used instead of vacant?

While in some cases nearly identical to vacant, blank stresses the absence of any significant, relieving, or intelligible features on a surface.

a blank wall

When would empty be a good substitute for vacant?

In some situations, the words empty and vacant are roughly equivalent. However, empty suggests a complete absence of contents.

an empty bucket

When is vacuous a more appropriate choice than vacant?

While the synonyms vacuous and vacant are close in meaning, vacuous suggests the emptiness of a vacuum and especially the lack of intelligence or significance.

a vacuous facial expression

When is it sensible to use void instead of vacant?

The words void and vacant are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, void suggests absolute emptiness as far as the mind or senses can determine.

a statement void of meaning

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 vacant Fisk's old business associates seek to claim his vacant mantle. John W. Dean, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Apr. 2025 This move will help reactivate vacant office spaces, alleviate commercial vacancies and contribute to new vitality for downtown businesses and restaurants. Shelonda Stokes, Baltimore Sun, 6 Apr. 2025 Likewise, work is underway, the director added, to find alternate funding sources or consolidate them with currently vacant jobs, for the positions whose grant funding has suddenly ended. Paul Sisson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Apr. 2025 Two other seats were left vacant when Democratic lawmakers died. Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 27 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for vacant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vacant
Adjective
  • Imagine nearly every seat in Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center − over 20,000 seats − are empty.
    Kymberlee Montgomery, The Conversation, 14 Apr. 2025
  • On a rainy morning, the restaurant, made up of a few four-seat tables leading to the stage area, was mostly empty.
    Eduardo Cuevas, USA Today, 12 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Instead of coddling grass with irrigation and fertilizer to prevent it from going dormant, embrace this natural response.
    Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 13 Apr. 2025
  • This allows the rooted cutting a full growing season to develop before becoming dormant in the winter.
    Quincy Bulin, Southern Living, 12 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • The film, with humor and authenticity, delves into the fallout from his audacious act — delivering two blank canvases while withholding the 532,000 Danish kroner paid to him by the commissioning museum.
    Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 16 Apr. 2025
  • While a decline in sailings could lead to a drop in prices, during Covid, blank sailings were identified by shippers around the world as a reason for container rates that spiked as high as $30,000.
    Lori Ann LaRocco, CNBC, 16 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Banking has become functionally correct but emotionally devoid, with the industry swimming in a sea of sameness.
    Michael Abbott, Forbes, 19 Mar. 2025
  • Delle, devoid for so long from its intrinsic need for social interaction might be filling in the gaps by talking to himself.
    Mack DeGeurin, Popular Science, 14 Feb. 2023
Adjective
  • Last-minute fixes were still being made, and some Cubs players trickled into the clubhouse to put stuff in their lockers or work out on their off day.
    Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 4 Apr. 2025
  • Stewart’s on-field production left a lot to be desired last year, but his motor doesn’t have an off switch.
    Eddie Brown, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • On his release, Stern went on to spend the 1950s ping-ponging between New York and California, for a time living on a disused laundry barge in Sausalito.
    News Desk, Artforum, 3 Mar. 2025
  • One of the most powerful scenes in Sugarcane takes place in a disused barn where, over a period of decades, Indigenous children worked under the lash.
    Matthew Carey, Deadline, 8 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Charlie Parker’s Favorite Painting (1946) indicates Abercrombie’s engagement with social issues: a yellow noose, nearly fluorescent against a dishwater sky, dangles from a barren tree—an oblique lament from the doggedly antiracist Abercrombie.
    Jeremy Lybarger, ARTnews.com, 26 Mar. 2025
  • Meanwhile, the patch of skin to the ’22 trophy’s left looks almost barren.
    Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 25 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Any unused bonus will expire after seven days. 21+ and present in participating states.
    Nicholas Creel, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Apr. 2025
  • Notably, lawmakers also agreed at the last minute to spend $14 million in federal child care funds that had been allocated to Idaho but remained unused.
    Rachel Cohen, Vox, 17 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Vacant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vacant. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.

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