vacuous

Also found in: Thesaurus, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

vac·u·ous

(văk′yo͞o-əs)

adj.

a. Lacking intelligence; stupid or empty-headed.

b. Devoid of substance or meaning; vapid or inane: a vacuous comment.

c. Devoid of expression; vacant: a vacuous stare. See Synonyms at empty.

2. Lacking serious purpose or occupation; idle: "A sleepless night was followed by a vacuous day" (Zon Ferraris).

3. Archaic Devoid of matter; empty: vacuous space.

[From Latin vacuus, empty; see vacuum.]

vac′u·ous·ly adv.

vac′u·ous·ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

vacuous

(ˈvækjʊəs)

adj

1. containing nothing; empty

2. bereft of ideas or intelligence; mindless

3. characterized by or resulting from vacancy of mind: a vacuous gaze.

4. indulging in no useful mental or physical activity; idle

5. (Logic) logic maths (of an operator or expression) having no import; idle: in (x) (John is tall) the quantifier (x) is vacuous

6. (Mathematics) logic maths (of an operator or expression) having no import; idle: in (x) (John is tall) the quantifier (x) is vacuous

[C17: from Latin vacuus empty, from vacāre to be empty]

ˈvacuously adv

ˈvacuousness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

vac•u•ous

(ˈvæk yu əs)

adj.

1. empty.

2. lacking in or showing a lack of ideas or intelligence: a vacuous mind.

3. purposeless; idle.

[1645–55; < Latin vacuus empty]

vac′u•ous•ly, adv.

vac′u•ous•ness, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Adj.	1.	vacuous - devoid of intelligence asinine, fatuous, inane, mindless foolish - devoid of good sense or judgment; "foolish remarks"; "a foolish decision"
	2.	vacuous - devoid of significance or point; "empty promises"; "a hollow victory"; "vacuous comments" empty, hollow meaningless, nonmeaningful - having no meaning or direction or purpose; "a meaningless endeavor"; "a meaningless life"; "a verbose but meaningless explanation"
	3.	vacuous - devoid of matter; "a vacuous space" empty - holding or containing nothing; "an empty glass"; "an empty room"; "full of empty seats"; "empty hours"
	4.	vacuous - void of expression; "a blank stare" blank incommunicative, uncommunicative - not inclined to talk or give information or express opinions

vacuous

adjective vapid, stupid, inane, blank, vacant, unintelligent the usual vacuous comments from the chat-show host

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

vacuous

adjective

1. Containing nothing:

bare, blank, clear, empty, vacant, void.

2. Lacking intelligent thought or content:

blank, empty, empty-headed, inane, vacant.

Translations

privo vacuit...vacuo

vacuous

[ˈvækjʊəs] ADJ (frm) [expression] → vacío, ausente; [face] → alelado, de pasmo; [comment] → vacuo, vacío; [person] → alelado, bobo

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

vacuous

[ˈvækjʊəs] adj [person, comment, song] → inepte

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

vacuous

adj eyes, face, stare → ausdruckslos, leer; film, play, book, remarks → nichtssagend

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

vacuous

[ˈvækjʊəs] adj (look, expression) → vacuo/a; (comment) → stupido/a, insulso/a

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

It finds ignoble occupation as a gaping-ground for the vacuous tourist,--somewhat as Heine might have imagined Pan carrying the gentleman's luggage from the coach to the hotel.

View in context

He was about fifty years of age, clean shaven, with vacuous eyes and a weak mouth.

View in context

Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss Mary Sutherland.

For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which compelled our respect.

View in context

His companions stood looking on with vacuous grins upon their countenances, while he from whom the girl had wrested the weapon leaped up and down shrieking with laughter.

View in context

He stared at me with a hopeless expression upon his vacuous, good-natured, scrubby little face.

View in context

"TO cook by your fire and to sleep under your roof for the night," I had announced on entering old Ebbits's cabin; and he had looked at me blear-eyed and vacuous, while Zilla had favored me with a sour face and a contemptuous grunt.

View in context

Mean while inhabit laxe, ye Powers of Heav'n, And thou my Word, begotten Son, by thee This I perform, speak thou, and be it don: My overshadowing Spirit and might with thee I send along, ride forth, and bid the Deep Within appointed bounds be Heav'n and Earth, Boundless the Deep, because I am who fill Infinitude, nor vacuous the space.

View in context

Exposure of Johnson's vacuous Brexit con job and staged photos to cover up a police call to his home are the desperation of a charlatan.

Slither off, Boris; VOICE OF THE

The other side of the coin is the climate change denier, full of vacuous, specious argument powered by invective and ridicule, utterly bereft of any basic scientific knowledge.

Contrasting points of view

"What does this say about our society, that these talentless, vacuous twerps are billionaires?" TV's Piers Morgan commenting on claims that social media personality Kylie Jenner has become the youngest self-made billionaire

QUOTES OF THE DAY

If you come from a working-class background, if you're brown, if you are of colour, you are not wanted"Actor Christopher Eccleston "What's Twitter?" Actress and former MP Glenda Jackson "What does this say about our society, that these talentless, vacuous twerps are billionaires?" TV's Piers Morgan commenting on claims that social media personality Kylie Jenner has become the youngest self-made billionaire