EN

Synonyms for vacuous

  • adjective

Most common

empty-headed mindless inane fatuous empty hollow

Synonyms by meaning

Adjective

1. Inane — showing a lack of thought or intelligence; vacant

inane, empty-headed, mindless, fatuous, insipid, meaningless, foolish, silly, stupid, brainless, ignorant, dumb, unintelligent, uninformed, simple, moronic, idiotic, witless, asinine, childish, dull, frivolous

2. Empty — empty; void; lacking meaningful content

empty, hollow, vacant, void, vague, vacuitous

Antonyms

bright, whip-smart, brainy

All antonyms of vacuous →

Definitions

  1. adj. 1

    Empty; void; lacking meaningful content.

    She gave him a vacuous smile.

  2. adj. 2

    Showing a lack of thought or intelligence; vacant.

Related words

Word family
vacuity vacuousness vacant vacuum

Choose the right word

Vacuous, Empty or Vacant?

Vacuous refers to the condition of being empty or vacant, regarded as continuous or characteristic.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

  • mindless The internet is great for mindless entertainment.
  • inane I can't stand such number of inane trivialities.
  • fatuous This is going to sound completely fatuous, but it's my honest answer.
  • empty An empty stomach doesn't help on the mental front.
  • hollow Near Sleepy Hollow is a village called Tarry Town.

Popularity over time

Word1850 → 2019Trend
vacuousrising
mindlessrising
inanerising
fatuousfalling
emptyrising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

4 letters
dumb1, void1, dull1
5 letters
empty2, silly2, vague1, inane2
6 letters
simple2, stupid2, hollow2, vacant2
7 letters
foolish2, idiotic4, moronic, insipid3, asinine3, witless2, fatuous3
8 letters
ignorant3, childish2, mindless2
9 letters
frivolous3, brainless2, vacuitous
10 letters
uninformed3
11 letters
meaningless3
13 letters
unintelligent

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (empty2 = 2 syllables).