emptier
Noun pluralemptiers
Pluralemptiers
- 1Comparative form of empty.
The stadium felt emptier during the second half as fans drifted away.
After the layoffs, the office grew emptier with each passing month.
Note
Empty takes the short -er comparative, as two-syllable adjectives ending in -y usually do, and the y turns to i before the suffix. The superlative follows the same pattern as emptiest. The comparative works for the figurative senses as readily as the literal one, so you can speak of emptier promises, emptier words or an emptier life as well as an emptier room.
- 2A person or a device that empties something.
The recycling plant relies on a mechanical emptier to unload each cart.
As the building's emptier, she made sure no bin overflowed by the end of the day.
Note
An agent noun built on the verb: whoever or whatever does the emptying, with the plural emptiers. It shares its spelling with the comparative of empty, which comes from the adjective instead. Grammar tells them apart. Only the noun takes an article or a plural (an emptier, the bin emptiers), while the adjective sits after a verb like grow or feel (the hall grew emptier).
Showing meanings only.
emptier is a form of empty
empty, adjective: Containing nothing or nobody; having none of something, often followed by 'of', as in streets empty of traffic. Full entry
- Spelling
- empty → emptier: change y to i, add -er
Use it in a sentence
Write your own sentence with emptier, and AI will tell you whether it fits and which meaning you used.
Origins
Formed from the verb "empty" plus the suffix "-er," naming a person or thing that empties something.
Formed from the adjective "empty" plus the comparative suffix "-er," meaning more empty.