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Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective vacant contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of vacant are blank, empty, vacuous, and void. While all these words mean "lacking contents which could or should be present," vacant suggests an absence of appropriate contents or occupants.

a vacant apartment

When can blank be used instead of vacant?

While in some cases nearly identical to vacant, blank stresses the absence of any significant, relieving, or intelligible features on a surface.

a blank wall

When would empty be a good substitute for vacant?

In some situations, the words empty and vacant are roughly equivalent. However, empty suggests a complete absence of contents.

an empty bucket

When is vacuous a more appropriate choice than vacant?

While the synonyms vacuous and vacant are close in meaning, vacuous suggests the emptiness of a vacuum and especially the lack of intelligence or significance.

a vacuous facial expression

When is it sensible to use void instead of vacant?

The words void and vacant are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, void suggests absolute emptiness as far as the mind or senses can determine.

a statement void of meaning

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of vacant The Speech building, only partially occupied, and the Procurement building, currently vacant, are on Campus Drive at the northeast corner of University Plaza, according to UALR. Ryan Anderson, Arkansas Online, 22 May 2025 Some of them were relocated to vacant rooms and others were put up in area motels. Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 20 May 2025 And Tom Aspinall’s Interim Title Jon Jones won the vacant UFC heavyweight title in March 2023, securing a submission win over Ciryl Gane at UFC 285. Trent Reinsmith, Forbes.com, 20 May 2025 Fast forward: After three years, the site remains vacant, fenced and undeveloped. Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 14 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for vacant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vacant
Adjective
  • American retailers cried foul and indicated Santa Claus’s sled would be empty.
    Bruce Yandle, Boston Herald, 1 June 2025
  • Those who depend on the river are already dealing with uncertainty: this season’s mountain snowpack is expected to deliver about half the median amount of water to the system’s two major reservoirs, which are already two-thirds empty.
    Elise Schmelzer, Denver Post, 31 May 2025
Adjective
  • The cause of the blaze has not been determined, but the company has acknowledged that it may have been sparked by a faulty dormant power line operated by Edison.
    Caroline Petrow-Cohen, Los Angeles Times, 22 May 2025
  • Perhaps the Flyers believe that a certain segment of the fan base that’s been dormant through what has been a mostly incompetent decade will awaken with the return of one of the organization’s most popular all-time players now running the day-to-day operations at ice level.
    Kevin Kurz, New York Times, 21 May 2025
Adjective
  • But with a blank canvas on which to build a new version of Dedeaux Field, there was some upside.
    Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 23 May 2025
  • The Treasury Department has placed its last order for blank pennies and plans to stop minting the one-cent coins as soon as that's exhausted.
    Scott Horsley, NPR, 22 May 2025
Adjective
  • Banking has become functionally correct but emotionally devoid, with the industry swimming in a sea of sameness.
    Michael Abbott, Forbes, 19 Mar. 2025
  • Delle, devoid for so long from its intrinsic need for social interaction might be filling in the gaps by talking to himself.
    Mack DeGeurin, Popular Science, 14 Feb. 2023
Adjective
  • But the Lions scored three times in the top of the third off USD starter Cal Scolari.
    Bill Center, San Diego Union-Tribune, 23 May 2025
  • As the Cubs, winners in seven of their last nine, head into an off day Thursday, here are three takeaways from their second straight series victory.
    Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune, 21 May 2025
Adjective
  • On his release, Stern went on to spend the 1950s ping-ponging between New York and California, for a time living on a disused laundry barge in Sausalito.
    News Desk, Artforum, 3 Mar. 2025
  • One of the most powerful scenes in Sugarcane takes place in a disused barn where, over a period of decades, Indigenous children worked under the lash.
    Matthew Carey, Deadline, 8 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • The festival was deliberately planned for the barren weeks in June after college students left and before the summer concert and festival season kicked in.
    Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 25 May 2025
  • The Bureau’s new research station on Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano, with its high altitude and barren landscape, would prove to be the ideal collection spot.
    Ashley Braun, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 May 2025
Adjective
  • The Army said 6,700 soldiers will begin arriving Washington, D.C., on June 11 and will sleep on cots inside unused federal office buildings, including the Department of Agriculture.
    Anne Flaherty, ABC News, 21 May 2025
  • Casemiro was an unused substitute in nine out of 15 Premier League matches at the beginning of his new head coach’s tenure.
    Carl Anka, New York Times, 21 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Vacant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vacant. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.

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