vacuous

Advancedzipf 2.54

Pronunciation

/ˈvækjuəs/(VAK-yoo-us)

Part of speech

adjectiveformal

Chinese

空洞的；无意义的；茫然的

Definition

Having no content, thought, or intelligence; empty-headed.

Word family

  • vacuously/ˈvækjuəsli/(adv)空洞地
  • vacuity/væˈkjuːəti/(n)空虚

Collocations

  • vacuous expression
  • vacuous remark
  • vacuous smile
  • vacuous celebrity

Examples

  1. 1.The speech was vacuous — full of buzzwords but no substance. (empty of meaning)
  2. 2.She stared with a vacuous expression, clearly not understanding. (blank, empty-headed)

Synonyms

  • empty/ˈɛmpti/— lacking content
  • shallow/ˈʃæləʊ/— lacking depth
  • inane/ɪˈneɪn/— silly and meaningless

Etymology

from Latin "vacuus" = empty — like a vacuum — containing nothing