hollowness

C2+ Topic:Abstract Ideas

US /ˈhɑːloʊnəs/ UK /ˈhɒləʊnəs/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
the state of being empty inside; insincerity or emptiness of feeling

The hollowness of his apology was plain to everyone.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the state of being empty... emptiness insincerity vacuity meaninglessness falseness vacancy shallowness

Opposites

sincerity substance fullness solidity

Word family

Related forms hollowhollowlyhole

Etymology

From hollow + -ness. Hollow descends from Old English holh ('a hollow, cave'), related to hol ('hole'), from Proto-Germanic *hulą.

holh Old English *hulą Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Abstract Ideas Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# hollowness

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈhɑːloʊnəs/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈhɒləʊnəs/

## Meanings
1. the state of being empty inside; insincerity or emptiness of feeling

## Examples
- The hollowness of his apology was plain to everyone.

## Synonyms
- emptiness
- insincerity
- vacuity
- meaninglessness
- falseness
- vacancy
- shallowness

## Antonyms
- sincerity
- substance
- fullness
- solidity

## Related Forms
- hollow
- hollowly
- hole

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: holh
- Root: *hulą

## Etymology
From hollow + -ness. Hollow descends from Old English holh ('a hollow, cave'), related to hol ('hole'), from Proto-Germanic *hulą.

## AI Etymology
hollowness comes from hollow + -ness. Hollow descends from Old English holh ('a hollow, cave'), related to hol ('hole'), from Proto-Germanic *hulą. Morphologically, the ending is part of the etymology: the suffix is attached to the older base named in the history, producing a later English derivative. In present English, the noun sense is "the state of being empty inside; insincerity or emptiness of feeling", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as hollow, hollowly, and hole. Its semantic neighborhood includes emptiness, insincerity, vacuity, and meaninglessness, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Old English holh and Proto-Germanic *hulą.

## Topics
- Abstract Ideas
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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