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empty

noun · adjective · verb

Simple meaning

Devoid of content.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ehmptee

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɛmpti

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. chiefly in the plural

    A container, especially a bottle, whose contents have been used up, leaving it empty.

  2. A container that has been emptied

adjective

  1. Devoid of content; containing nothing or nobody; vacant.

  2. computingprogrammingmathematics

    Containing no elements (as of a string, array, or set), opposed to being null (having no valid value).

  3. Destitute of effect, sincerity, or sense; said of language.

  4. Destitute of, or lacking, sense, knowledge, or courtesy.

  5. Destitute of reality, or real existence; unsubstantial.

  6. Unable to satisfy; hollow; vain.

verb

  1. intransitive

    Of a river, duct, etc: to drain or flow toward an ultimate destination.

  2. Become empty or void of its content

  3. Make void or empty of contents

  4. Leave behind empty; move out of

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A2 · Elementary
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Varies by meaning

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A container, especially a bottle, whose contents have been used up, leaving it empty.

Used this way, empty is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use empty

  • “The box was completely empty when I opened it.”adjective

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

empty spaceempty chairempty setempty tombempty wordsempty stomachempty houseempty room

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • emptyingnounInflected form

    The act of removing the contents of something.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • empty nesternounCompound term

    A parent whose children have grown up and left home.

  • empty talknounCompound term

    Loud and confused and empty talk.

  • empty tombnounCompound term

    A monument built to honor people whose remains are interred elsewhere or whose remains cannot be recovered.

  • empty wordsnounCompound term

    Loud and confused and empty talk.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: devoid of content

voidvacuous

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.