- the fact or state of containing nothing or of being without the usual or appropriate contents: All morning the emptiness of the cupboard, the thought of the house without even tea or butter, had been troubling him.
- the fact or state of being without human occupants or human activity: A broad, slanting patch of sunshine cut across the gloomy, lifeless emptiness of the church.
- empty or barren space; void: If we leave today we can reach the outpost by the 27th—through another 800 miles of flat, windy emptiness.
- the fact or quality of being without force or effect; hollowness: Continued support for brutal regimes reveals the hypocrisy and emptiness of the administration’s professed goal of spreading democracy.
- the quality or feeling of being without significance or purpose; meaninglessness: In the 21st century we are more likely to experience aimlessness and emptiness than guilt.
- the fact or quality of being unoccupied by useful work or activity; idleness: An active man, not yet sixty, he was unused to the emptiness of his days after he retired.
- the fact or quality of being completely spent or drained emotionally by trauma: Many women describe a feeling of numbness and emptiness following a miscarriage.
