DictionaryAI

empty

EMP-tee/ˈɛmp.ti/

Adjectiveemptier, emptiest

Verbempties, emptying, emptied

13 meanings of empty

Practice

  1. 1
    vacantadjective
    Containing nothing or nobody; having none of something, often followed by 'of', as in streets empty of traffic.

    The theater was completely empty an hour before showtime.

    He stared at the empty page, unsure how to begin.

    Similarvacant, blank, bare, deserted, unoccupied

    Oppositefull, occupied, filled, crowded

  2. 2
    clear outverbtransitive
    To remove the contents or occupants of something, making it empty; also, of a place or container, to become empty.

    Sanitation workers empty the curbside bins every morning.

    He emptied the bucket of dirty water into the drain.

    Similarevacuate, void

    Oppositefill

    Note

    The King James Bible of 1611 has clouds that "empty themselves upon the earth", a reflexive phrasing where modern English would simply say the clouds emptied.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • The King James Bible was first published in 1611. wwwe.lib.cam.ac.uk
    • Ecclesiastes 11:3 in the King James Bible describes clouds using the quoted reflexive wording. en.wikisource.org
  3. 3
    pointless (life)adjective
    Of a life or experience, failing to satisfy, hollow and without meaning; of a person, feeling hollow or numb inside, as after a loss or disappointment.

    After years of chasing money, she found her comfortable life strangely empty.

    His victory left him empty, the thrill gone the moment it arrived.

    UsageOften after feel or leave: she felt empty; the win left him empty.

    Similarhollow, meaningless, unsatisfying, unfulfilled

    Oppositesatisfying, fulfilling, meaningful

  4. 4
    flow intoverbintransitive
    Of a river, duct, or similar channel, to drain or flow toward a final destination.

    The Mississippi empties into the Gulf of Mexico.

    Drainage channels empty into the reservoir below the dam.

    UsageUsually empty into: the river empties into the sea.

    Similardrain, flow, discharge

    Note

    Geography's verb: rivers, streams and ducts empty into something. Horace White's 1899 translation of Appian has the Rhine emptying into the Northern ocean and the Danube into the Euxine. Unlike the verb of removing contents, this one takes no object and tells where the water ends up.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Horace White's translation of Appian was published in 1899. en.wikisource.org
    • White's translation describes the Rhine emptying into the Northern ocean and the Danube into the Euxine. livius.org
  5. 5
    nothing to carryadjective
    Free of any load or burden, with nothing at all to carry.

    The fishermen returned empty, their nets having caught nothing.

    Having left their loads at the upper camp, the porters headed back down the trail empty and twice as fast.

    UsageUsually after a verb of motion: go, return or come back empty.

    Similarunladen, unburdened

    Oppositeladen, loaded

    Note

    Travelers and messengers carry this sense. In Marlowe's Tamburlaine a captive asks for the "empty camels" back, a lord in Shakespeare's Timon of Athens apologizes for returning "an empty messenger", and the King James Bible of 1611 promises "ye shall not go empty."

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

  6. 6
    adjective
    Lacking real substance, effect or sincerity; meaningless.

    The apology was empty, a string of words with no feeling behind it.

    Politicians too often fall back on empty slogans during a campaign.

    UsageCommon with promises, threats, words and gestures: empty promises.

    Similarhollow, meaningless, insincere, vacuous, idle

    Oppositesincere, meaningful, genuine, heartfelt

  7. 7
    hungryadjective
    Hungry; having an unfilled stomach and needing food.

    He had skipped dinner, so he woke up feeling empty and went straight for breakfast.

    Lunch had been hours ago, and by four o'clock she was feeling empty enough to raid the office snack drawer.

    Similarhungry, famished, starving, ravenous

    Oppositefull, sated, satisfied

  8. 8
    zero items (code)adjective
    Of a string, array, set, or similar collection, containing no elements, as distinct from being null.

    The function returns true when the array is empty.

    An empty string has a length of zero but is not the same as a missing value.

    Note

    Programmers and mathematicians keep two kinds of nothing apart. An empty string, array or set exists and simply holds no elements, while a null value marks that there is no string, array or set at all. Confusing the two is a classic source of bugs.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Empty strings, arrays and sets are values containing no elements. docs.python.org
    • Confusing null with empty values is a recognized programming problem. dev.mysql.com

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of empty apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

From Middle English emty, from Old English ǣmtiġ ("vacant, idle, free"), literally "without obligation", built from Germanic roots meaning "out" and "must, obligation". The 'p' crept in to ease pronunciation: it turns up now and then in late Old English and became the usual spelling in Middle English.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 7 facts