vacuous
5
8.1
- adjective
- /ˈvæk.ju.əs/
- Formal
:
insustancial
- Illiteracy about key economic issues is widespread, and vacuous, simplistic formulations are put forth without being challenged or parsed.
- become vacuous
It's completely vacuous when you read it.
- It's completely vacuous when you read it.
- Putting up a sign that says I support BLM is an empty, vacuous virtue signal.
- Notice that the fact that the concept of health is open, genuinely open for revision does not make it vacuous.
- Don't don't get lost in the trappings of all of that vacuous and actually empty stuff that feels so wonderful in the moment.
Examples
-
On the one hand, the film calls out the Hollywood industry for being a vacuous distraction machine.
Blog text (31) -
No excitement or emotion; only this vacuous drivel.
Fiction book (2002) -
It's completely vacuous when you read it.
-
Of course we like to do things that we like, so this statement at first seems vacuous.
Academic text (1997) -
Obama on foreign policy is as vacuous and empty as he is on domestic policy.
Blog text (20) -
First, the program is vacuous; for the most part, it's a statement of desired outcomes, not policies.
Blog text (12) -
The fact that the programming is so banal, so incredibly vacuous, and so boring does not help.
Blog text (25) -
Oratory and rhetoric are commonly dismissed as vacuous or, at worst, fundamentally deceptive.
Blog text (31) -
Only something as vacuous as a resolution supporting motherhood can garner virtually unanimous approval.
Academic text (1991) -
The speech was so vacuous that many in the audience felt it lacked any real substance.
Synonyms
351
3.7
Feeling like you have no feelings inside
298
3.0
Has no value or use
226
5.1
Having no meaning, value, or purpose
182
1.3
Not interesting or lively
64
5.5
Empty inside and not sincere or meaningful
30
6.1
Dull and showing little energy
23
6.2
Not showing new ideas or creative thinking
20
1.4
Not exciting and likely to make people bored
19
3.6
Without energy or interest and making people feel bored
18
4.1
Having a blank look that shows no thought or interest
16
7.9
Not interesting or lively and often boring
7
3.5
Not interesting or exciting
5
3.6
Not worth anything or useful
4
3.9
Not interesting or exciting
2
7.4
Not interesting or lively and often boring
1
5.8
Having nothing special or interesting
1
7.5
Not having real importance or value
Not useful or important
Not important or serious compared with other things
Not clear or strong, with little real detail
Dull and showing little energy or interest
Antonyms
How Meaningful
Surface Forms
Morphology
vacuous = vacant (semi-transparent) = vacu + ous
The sense 'lacking real meaning or substance' is a metaphorical extension of 'empty' and is related to the literal base but requires understanding of the evaluative/abstract use.
Etymology
The word vacuous comes from the Latin vacuus, 'empty'. That's why we call words or ideas vacuous when they have no real meaning or value, like a speech full of empty promises.