Synonyms: Empty

From that creepy old house on the corner to a desert landscape, this list has words related to every sort of empty place, person, or thing. For more synonym lists, explore our Say What You Mean resources.
14 words 2900 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. barren
    completely wanting or lacking
    There was once a time before life, when the Earth was barren and utterly desolate. Cosmos
    Barren land is empty, bare, with nothing growing on it.
  2. cavity
    a space that is enclosed or surrounded by something
    When Cole reached camp, he jabbed the blunt end of his spear into the chest cavity of the fish and rotated it over the smoky flames. Touching Spirit Bear
    A cavity — whether in your tooth or in a rock — is a hole, an empty place. It comes from the same Latin root cavus, meaning "hollow."
  3. depleted
    no longer sufficient
    This morning I purposely overstuffed my game bag with food, knowing my mother would see the depleted pantry and assume I was making my rounds to the hungry. Catching Fire
  4. deserted
    forsaken by owner or inhabitants
    Sierra wasn’t used to seeing any part of the city so deserted. Shadowshaper
  5. desolate
    providing no shelter or sustenance
    And for such a desolate place—she looked around and saw nothing but a barren landscape—he was oddly dressed, in a fashion that was unfamiliar to her. Son
    A desolate place is empty with few signs of life.
  6. devoid
    completely wanting or lacking
    Each sentence she spoke was devoid of emotion. When Dimple Met Rishi
  7. drivel
    a worthless message
    But she goes on to argue that despite all the drivel online there is also a massive amount of "dynamic and intelligent commentary on art and society". The Guardian (Sep 17, 2010)
    Sometimes, the words people say or write can seem meaningless. That kind of language is described asdrivel.
  8. evacuate
    empty completely
    Ordinarily, the space between the reactor and containment vessel remains evacuated, like the vacuum jacket in a thermos bottle. Science Magazine (Aug 18, 2020)
    To evacuate is to empty out, as in people fleeing a town that a wildfire is approaching. This and the following three words all use the Latin root vac-, which comes from the verb vacare, meaning "to empty."
  9. hollow
    not solid; having a space or gap or cavity
    In her dream, Piper flew above the Parthenon - the ancient temple of Athena, the left side of its hollow shell encased in metal scaffolding. Blood of Olympus
  10. vacant
    void of thought or knowledge
    Most of the houses on the block are vacant. The Skin I'm In
  11. vacuous
    devoid of matter
    His face, on the other hand, was vacuous, expressionless; more, it was incapable of expression. Marsh, Richard
  12. vacuum
    an empty area or space
    “You ever think about how weird it is that Earth is hurtling through the black vacuum of space, where it’s like a thousand below zero, and meanwhile we’re down here sweating?” The Serpent King
  13. vapid
    lacking significance or liveliness or spirit or zest
    I will not tolerate childish pastimes or vapid communications with friends. Scythe
    Vapid has a similar sense as the word drivel, though it can describe more than words. A bad movie or a pointless pop song might be called vapid.
  14. void
    an empty area or space
    I remember being on the train, but after that there is a gulf of blackness, a void. The Girl on the Train
Created on Tue Jun 16 19:51:30 EDT 2020 (updated Mon Mar 22 17:37:02 EDT 2021)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.