hollow

Formshollower, hollowest

Formshollows, hollowing, hollowed

Pluralhollows

1. 1
   empty coreadjective

   Containing a cavity or empty space within, rather than being solid throughout.

   The old oak had a hollow trunk where owls nested.

   Engineers prefer hollow beams because they save weight without losing strength.

   Similarempty

   Oppositesolid, full, filled

2. 2
   worthlessadjectivefiguratively

   Lacking real substance, value, or sincerity; empty of genuine meaning, as in a hollow victory or hollow promises.

   Without his friends there to celebrate, the promotion felt like a hollow achievement.

   The treaty proved a hollow gesture once both sides ignored its terms.

   UsageSet phrases: a hollow victory, a hollow promise. Words that sound insincere ring hollow.

   Similarempty, meaningless, worthless, insincere, pointless

   Oppositemeaningful, genuine, sincere

3. 3
   scoop outverbtransitive

   To make a hole in something; to dig or carve out its inside.

   Before carving the face, she used a big metal spoon to hollow the pumpkin.

   The river had hollowed the cliff into a series of caves.

   UsageOften hollow out: hollow out a pumpkin or a log.

   Similarexcavate, carve, scoop, gouge, dig

   Oppositefill

4. 4
   sunken spotnouncountable

   A sunken or dipped area on a surface.

   A shallow hollow in the field collected the morning mist.

   The old mattress had a hollow where he slept every night.

   UsageOften the hollow of something: the hollow of your hand, of the neck.

   Similardepression, dip, dent, indentation, sag

   Oppositebump, mound, hump

   Note

   A dip you can see from above rather than a space shut inside: the hollow of the hand, a dent worn into a mattress, a low spot in a field. That open, cupped shape is what separates it from the enclosed cavity, such as a hollow in a tree trunk.

5. 5
   hole insidenouncountable

   An empty space inside something solid; a cavity, whether natural or made.

   Smugglers had hidden the cash in a hollow carved inside the statue's base.

   The carpenter filled the hollow in the beam with epoxy.

   Similarcavity, hole, pit, recess, void

6. 6
   dull (sound)adjective

   Describing a sound that is dull, muffled, and echoing, often low and eerie, as if made in an empty space.

   A hollow groan echoed through the abandoned mineshaft.

   The bell's hollow toll carried across the foggy valley.

   UsageCommon with sounds: a hollow boom, a hollow knock, a hollow echo.

   Similardull, muffled, resonant, deep

   Note

   A word for sounds that seem to come out of an empty space: a moan, a toll, the wind. Byron's "the hollow winds whistle" through the battlements of Newstead shows it applied to weather as readily as to voices. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • Byron wrote "the hollow winds whistle" in a line describing wind passing through Newstead's battlements. en.wikisource.org
7. 7
   small valleynouncountable

   A small valley lying between hills or mountains.

   The trail wound down into a quiet hollow shaded by old hemlocks.

   Fog settled in the hollow long after the ridges had cleared.

   Similarvalley, dell, glen, dale, vale

   Note

   As a landform it names a small valley tucked between heights, and it carries atmosphere easily. Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820) sets its goblin-haunted bridge in a sandy one, and Tennyson's Maud (1855) turns "the dreadful hollow behind the little wood" into a place of horror. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • Washington Irving wrote The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, first published in 1820. en.wikipedia.org
   • The story places its bridge associated with goblin stories in a sandy hollow. gutenberg.org
   • Alfred Tennyson wrote Maud, first published in 1855. en.wikisource.org
   • Maud contains the quoted description and presents the hollow as a place of horror; its unnamed narrator speaks the words. en.wikisource.org
8. 8
   sunken faceadjective

   Sunken and curved inward, as with gaunt cheeks or tired, sunken eyes.

   Months of hunger had left his face thin and hollow.

   The prisoner stared out with hollow, exhausted eyes.

   Similarsunken, gaunt, drawn, haggard

   Oppositefull, plump, chubby

   Note

   Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice already pairs "hollow eye and wrinkled brow" as marks of a worn face. The word here describes an inward curve on a surface. That puts it closer to the noun for a dip than to the adjective for an empty interior. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice contains the exact phrase, spoken by Antonio about the appearance of a man enduring poverty. folger.edu
9. 9
   empty feelingnounfigurativelycountable

   A sense of emptiness felt inside oneself.

   A deep hollow opened inside him when the news finally sank in.

   Years later, the loss still left a hollow she could not name.

   Similarvoid, emptiness, vacuum

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