1
as in devoid
lacking contents that could or should be present
a great vacuous space that should have been filled with an audience
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in dumb
not having or showing an ability to absorb ideas readily
a movie that was enthusiastically derided for its vacuous dialogue
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of vacuous
Fallon, for his part, plays his usual role of affable if vacuous host.
—
Hershal Pandya, Vulture, 8 Aug. 2025
These are the hallmarks of the Alien franchise, which have remained mostly consistent across the seven movies (plus two vacuous Alien vs. Predator crossovers) that have kept those terrifying Xenomorphs coming back to our screens every decade since the original premiered in 1979.
—Judy Berman, Time, 5 Aug. 2025
Bateman's seething anger at having his card bested by that of his colleague Paul Allen (Jared Leto), despite the two cards looking almost identical, satirized the vacuous materialism of 1980s yuppie culture.
—New Atlas, 9 June 2025
In recent months, a more nebulous and vacuous kind of assessment has been entering into the AI vocabulary.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 5 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for vacuous
Hershal Pandya, Vulture, 8 Aug. 2025
These are the hallmarks of the Alien franchise, which have remained mostly consistent across the seven movies (plus two vacuous Alien vs. Predator crossovers) that have kept those terrifying Xenomorphs coming back to our screens every decade since the original premiered in 1979.
—Judy Berman, Time, 5 Aug. 2025
Bateman's seething anger at having his card bested by that of his colleague Paul Allen (Jared Leto), despite the two cards looking almost identical, satirized the vacuous materialism of 1980s yuppie culture.
—New Atlas, 9 June 2025
In recent months, a more nebulous and vacuous kind of assessment has been entering into the AI vocabulary.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 5 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for vacuous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vacuous
Adjective
-
Banking has become functionally correct but emotionally devoid, with the industry swimming in a sea of sameness.—
Michael Abbott,
Forbes,
19 Mar. 2025
-
That devoid ingredient hindered things exponentially.—
Roderick Boone,
Charlotte Observer,
15 Feb. 2024
Adjective
-
Napier got a one-year honeymoon until a Week 1 loss at Utah in 2023, the year when the Gators committed a silly amount of dumb penalties (including the original instance of two guys wearing the same jersey).—
Stewart Mandel,
New York Times,
10 Sep. 2025
-
The reigning Super Bowl champs better hope that’s the dumbest thing that one of their players does this season.—
Parker Gabriel,
Denver Post,
6 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
But the White House should not settle for empty promises and construction photo-ops.—
Joel Thayer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 Sep. 2025
-
Jîna’s parents, Mojgan Eftekhari and Amjad Amini, sat beside her empty grave.—
Fatemeh Jamalpour,
Literary Hub,
15 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Jimmy Kimmel said something stupid and should apologize.—
Jesse Edwards,
MSNBC Newsweek,
20 Sep. 2025
-
Yeah, stupid s--- like this apparently is gonna keep happening for the next three years.—
Ryan Morik,
FOXNews.com,
19 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
At the time, only a handful of the university’s buildings were completed and the barren campus lacked landscaping.—
Ron Hasse,
Oc Register,
19 Sep. 2025
-
One of vultures in a barren tree.—
Madison E. Goldberg,
PEOPLE,
15 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
During the prelims in Tokyo, Seville had a concerning slow reaction to the starting gun.—
Katelyn Hutchison,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
-
Parisian servers may have an undeserved reputation for being slow, but instead of complaining or searching for faster service elsewhere, settle in with a book or newspaper.—
Lane Nieset,
Travel + Leisure,
14 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Mahle views its range-extenders as far more than simple independent add-on, looking at them as one component in a holistic driving architecture in which smaller batteries can replace larger ones while still alleviating, rather than intensifying, range anxiety.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
20 Sep. 2025
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For a similarly simple, comfortable option that’s a little more sophisticated, try a stylish ivory sweater (yes, white after Labor Day is definitely acceptable in France), particularly in a rollneck fashion that will suit silhouettes of all types.—
Lane Nieset,
Travel + Leisure,
20 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The paper demonstrates thick sodium cathodes that perform at room temperature and down to freezing.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
18 Sep. 2025
-
The alveolar wall is only one cell thick.—
Bill Frist,
Forbes.com,
18 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Vacuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vacuous. Accessed 21 Sep. 2025.
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