vacuous

C2+ Topic:Emotions & Feelings

US /ˈvækjuəs/ UK /ˈvækjuəs/ See IPA manual

adj

Meanings

1

adj
lacking thought, intelligence, or content; empty

He gave a vacuous smile that revealed nothing at all.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · lacking thought,... empty blank inane vapid mindless unintelligent fatuous

Opposites

thoughtful intelligent profound substantial

Word family

Derived forms vacuouslyvacuousnessvacuity

Related forms vacuum vacate vacant

Etymology

From Latin vacuus ('empty, void'), from vacāre ('to be empty'), plus the English suffix -ous.

vacuus Latin vacāre Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Emotions & Feelings Word Formation & Derivatives

# vacuous

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** ˈvækjuəs
**IPA (UK):** ˈvækjuəs

## Meanings
1. lacking thought, intelligence, or content; empty

## Examples
- He gave a vacuous smile that revealed nothing at all.

## Synonyms
- empty
- blank
- inane
- vapid
- mindless
- unintelligent
- fatuous

## Antonyms
- thoughtful
- intelligent
- profound
- substantial

## Derived Forms
- vacuously
- vacuousness
- vacuity

## Related Forms
- vacuum
- vacate
- vacant

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: vacuus
- Root: vacāre

## Etymology
From Latin vacuus ('empty, void'), from vacāre ('to be empty'), plus the English suffix -ous.

## AI Etymology
Vacuous comes from Latin vacuus ('empty, void'), from vacāre ('to be empty'), plus the English suffix -ous. The historical trail runs through Latin vacuus and Latin vacāre. Morphologically, the surface form is analyzable into prefixes, suffixes, compounds, or participial endings that carry part of the history. In modern use it means lacking thought, intelligence, or content; empty. Derived formations include vacuously, vacuousness, vacuity; related forms include vacuum, vacate, vacant.

## Topics
- Emotions & Feelings
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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vacuous

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