Vacant

• POS: Adjective
• HYPHEN: va=cant

CIDE DICTIONARY

Vacant, a. [F., fr. L. vacans, -antis, p. pr. of vacare to be empty, to be free or unoccupied, to have leisure, also vocare; akin to vacuus empty, and probably to E. void. Cf. Evacuate, Void, a.].

•  Deprived of contents; not filled; empty; as, a vacant room.  [1913 Webster]

  "Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form."  [1913 Webster]

  "Being of those virtues vacant."  [1913 Webster]

  "There is no fireside, howsoe'er defended,
  But has one vacant chair."  [1913 Webster]
•  Unengaged with business or care; unemployed; unoccupied; disengaged; free; as, vacant hours.  [1913 Webster]

  "Religion is the interest of all; but philosophy of those . . . at leisure, and vacant from the affairs of the world."  [1913 Webster]

  "There was not a minute of the day which he left vacant."  [1913 Webster]
•  Not filled or occupied by an incumbent, possessor, or officer; unoccupied; as, a vacant throne; a vacant house; a vacant apartment; a vacant parish.  [1913 Webster]

  "Special dignities which vacant lie
  For thy best use and wearing."  [1913 Webster]
•  Empty of thought; thoughtless; not occupied with study or reflection; as, a vacant mind.  [1913 Webster]

  "The duke had a pleasant and vacant face."  [1913 Webster]

  "When on my couch I lie
  In vacant or in pensive mood."  [1913 Webster]
•  Abandoned; having no heir, possessor, claimant, or occupier; as, a vacant estate.  Bouvier.  [1913 Webster]

Vacant succession (Law), one that is claimed by no person, or where all the heirs are unknown, or where all the known heirs to it have renounced it. Burrill.

Syn. -- Empty; void; devoid; free; unemployed; disengaged; unincumbered; uncrowded; idle.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Vacant, adj.
1 not filled or occupied; empty.
2 not mentally active; showing no interest (had a vacant stare).

Idiom

vacant possession Brit. ownership of a house etc. with any previous occupant having moved out.

Derivative

vacantly adv.

Etymology

ME f. OF vacant or L vacare (as VACATE)

THESAURUS

Vacant

abandoned, absent-minded, available, bare, barren, bland, blank, blankminded, bleached, calm, characterless, clear, deadpan, deserted, devoid, dull, empty, empty-headed, empty-minded, empty-pated, empty-skulled, expressionless, extra, fatuous, featureless, fishy, forsaken, free, glassy, godforsaken, hollow, idle, impassive, inane, incogitant, inexpressive, insipid, jejune, nirvanic, null, null and void, oblivious, open, passive, poker-faced, quietistic, rattlebrained, rattleheaded, relaxed, scatterbrained, spare, stark, tenantless, thoughtfree, thoughtless, tranquil, unaware, uncomprehending, unengaged, unexpressive, unfilled, unideaed, uninhabited, unintellectual, unmanned, unoccupied, unpeopled, unpopulated, unreasoning, unrelieved, unstaffed, untaken, untenanted, untended, unthinking, unused, unutilized, vacuous, vapid, void, white, with nothing inside, without content, wooden

ROGET THESAURUS

Vacant

Unsubstantiality

N unsubstantiality, insubstantiality, nothingness, nihility, no degree, no part, no quantity, no thing, nothing, naught, nil, nullity, zero, cipher, no one, nobody, never a one, ne'er a one, no such thing, none in the world, nothing whatever, nothing at all, nothing on earth, not a particle, all talk, moonshine, stuff and nonsense, matter of no importance, matter of no consequence, thing of naught, man of straw, John Doe and Richard Roe, faggot voter, nominis umbra, nonentity, flash in the pan, vox et praeterea nihil, shadow, phantom, dream, ignis fatuus, such stuff as dreams are made of, air, thin air, vapor, bubble, baseless fabric of a vision, mockery, hollowness, blank, void, inanity, fool's paradise, unsubstantial, baseless, groundless, ungrounded, without foundation, having no foundation, visionary, immaterial, spectral, dreamy, shadowy, ethereal, airy, cloud built, cloud formed, gossamery, illusory, insubstantial, unreal, vacant, vacuous, empty, eviscerated, blank, hollow, nominal, null, inane, there's nothing in it, an ocean of dreams without a sound.

Insufficiency

N insufficiency, inadequacy, inadequateness, incompetence, deficiency, imperfection, shortcoming, paucity, stint, scantiness, none to spare, bare subsistence, scarcity, dearth, want, need, lack, poverty, exigency, inanition, starvation, famine, drought, dole, mite, pittance, short allowance, short commons, half rations, banyan day, emptiness, poorness, depletion, vacancy, flaccidity, ebb tide, low water, a beggarly account of empty boxes, indigence, insolvency, drain of resources, impoverish, stint, put on short allowance, do insufficiently, scotch the snake, Adj, insufficient, inadequate, too little, not enough, unequal to, incompetent, weighed in the balance and found wanting, perfunctory, deficient, wanting imperfect, ill-furnished, ill-provided, ill- stored, ill-off, slack, at a low ebb, empty, vacant, bare, short of, out of, destitute of, devoid of, bereft of, denuded of, dry, drained, unprovided, unsupplied, unfurnished, unreplenished, unfed, unstored, untreasured, empty-handed, meager, poor, thin, scrimp, sparing, spare, stinted, starved, starving, halfstarved, famine-stricken, famished, jejune, scant, scarce, not to be had, not to be had for love or money, not to be had at any price, scurvy, stingy, at the end of one's tether, without resources, in want, in debt, insufficiently, in default of, for want of, failing, semper avarus eget.

Absence

N absence, inexistence, nonresidence, absenteeism, nonattendance, alibi, emptiness, void, vacuum, vacuity, vacancy, tabula rasa, exemption, hiatus, lipotype, truant, absentee, nobody, nobody present, nobody on earth, not a soul, ame qui vive, absent, not present, away, nonresident, gone, from home, missing, lost, wanting, omitted, nowhere to be found, inexistence, empty, void, vacant, vacuous, untenanted, unoccupied, uninhabited, tenantless, barren, sterile, desert, deserted, devoid, uninhabitable, without, minus, nowhere, elsewhere, neither here nor there, in default of, sans, behind one's back, the bird has flown, non est inventus, absence makes the heart grow fonder, absent in body but present in spirit, absento nemo ne nocuisse velit, Achilles absent was Achilles still, aux absents les os, briller par son absence, conspicuous by his absence, in the hope to meet shortly again and make our abs.

Incogitancy

N incogitancy, vacancy, inunderstanding, fatuity thoughtlessness, vacuity, couch potato, vegetable, vacant, unintellectual, unideal, unoccupied, unthinking, inconsiderate, thoughtless, mindless, no-brain, vacuous, absent, diverted, irrational narrow-minded, unthought of, undreamt 'of, unconsidered, off one's mind, incogitable, not to be thought of, absence d'esprit, pabulum pictura pascit inani.

Folly

N imbecility folly, want of intelligence &c, want of intellect, shadowness, silliness, foolishness, imbecility, incapacity, vacancy of mind, poverty of intellect, weakness of intellect, clouded perception, poor head, apartments to let, stupidity, stolidity, hebetude, dull understanding, meanest capacity, shortsightedness, incompetence, one's weak side, not one's strong point, bias, infatuation, simplicity, puerility, babyhood, dotage, anility, second childishness, fatuity, idiocy, idiotism, driveling, folly, frivolity, irrationality, trifling, ineptitude, nugacity, inconsistency, lip wisdom, conceit, sophistry, giddiness, eccentricity, extravagance, rashness, act of folly, unintelligent, unintellectual, unreasoning, mindless, witless, reasoningless, brainless, halfbaked, having no head, not bright, inapprehensible, weak headed, addle headed, puzzle headed, blunder headed, muddle headed, muddy headed, pig headed, beetle headed, buffle headed, chuckle headed, mutton headed, maggoty headed, grossheaded, beef headed, fat witted, fat-headed, weak-minded, feeble-minded, dull minded, shallow minded, lack- brained, rattle-brained, rattle headed, half witted, lean witted, short witted, dull witted, blunt-witted, shallow-pated, clod-pated, addle- pated, addle-brained, dim-sighted, short-sighted, thick-skulled, weak in the upper story, shallow, borne, weak, wanting, soft, sappy, spoony, dull, dull as a beetle, stupid, heavy, insulse, obtuse, blunt, stolid, doltish, asinine, inapt, prosaic, hebetudinous, childish, child-like, infantine, infantile, babyish, babish, puerile, anile, simple, old-womanish, fatuous, idiotic, imbecile, driveling, blatant, babbling, vacant, sottish, bewildered, blockish, unteachable Boeotian, Boeotic, bovine, ungifted, undiscerning, unenlightened, unwise, unphilosophical, apish, simious, foolish, silly, senseless, irrational, insensate, nonsensical, inept, maudlin, narrow-minded, bigoted, giddy, rash, eccentric, foolish, unwise, injudicious, improper, unreasonable, without reason, ridiculous, absurd, idiotic, silly, stupid, asinine, ill-imagined, ill-advised, ill-judged, ill-devised, mal entendu, inconsistent, irrational, unphilosophical, extravagant, sleeveless, idle, pointless, useless, inexpedient, frivolous, Davus sum non, a fool's bolt is soon shot clitellae bovi sunt im, fools rush in where angels fear to tread, il n' a ni bouche ni eperon, the bookful blockhead, ignorantly read, to varnish nonsense with the charms of sound.

Unmeaningness

N meaninglessness, unmeaningness, scrabble, empty sound, dead letter, vox et praeterea nihil, a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing, sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal, nonsense, utter nonsense, gibberish, jargon, jabber, mere words, hocus-pocus, fustian, rant, bombast, balderdash, palaver, flummery, verbiage, babble, baverdage, baragouin, platitude, niaiserie, inanity, flap-doodle, rigmarole, rodomontade, truism, nugae canorae, twaddle, twattle, fudge, trash, garbage, humbug, poppy-cock, stuff, stuff and nonsense, bosh, rubbish, moonshine, wish-wash, fiddle- faddle, absurdity, vagueness, boilerplate, clich_¬, unmeaning, meaningless, senseless, nonsensical, void of sense, inexpressive, unexpressive, vacant, not significant, insignificant, trashy, washy, trumpery, trivial, fiddle-faddle, twaddling, quibbling, unmeant, not expressed, tacit, inexpressible, undefinable, incommunicable.