vacuous

[vak-yoo-uh s] /ˈvæk yu əs/
adjective
1.
without contents; empty:
the vacuous air.
2.
lacking in ideas or intelligence:
a vacuous mind.
3.
expressing or characterized by a lack of ideas or intelligence; inane; stupid:
a vacuous book.
4.
purposeless; idle:
a vacuous way of life.
Origin
1645-55; < Latin vacuus empty; see -ous
Related forms
vacuously, adverb
vacuousness, noun
nonvacuous, adjective
nonvacuously, adverb
nonvacuousness, noun
unvacuous, adjective
unvacuously, adverb
unvacuousness, noun
Can be confused
vacant, vacuous, vapid.
Examples from the web for vacuous
  • And despite this somewhat overly simple and circular criterion, it is not vacuous.
  • It's an overly simple and circular criterion, but it isn't vacuous.
  • Then it becomes emptiness, transforming people into vacuous ghosts of who they used to be.
British Dictionary definitions for vacuous

vacuous

/ˈvækjʊəs/
adjective
1.
containing nothing; empty
2.
bereft of ideas or intelligence; mindless
3.
characterized by or resulting from vacancy of mind: a vacuous gaze
4.
indulging in no useful mental or physical activity; idle
5.
(logic, maths) (of an operator or expression) having no import; idle: in (x) (John is tall) the quantifier (x) is vacuous
Derived Forms
vacuously, adverb
vacuousness, noun
Word Origin
C17: from Latin vacuus empty, from vacāre to be empty
Word Origin and History for vacuous
adj.

1640s, "empty," from Latin vacuus "empty, void, free" (see vacuum). Figurative sense of "empty of ideas" is from 1848. Related: Vacuously; vacuousness.