How to Use vacuous in a Sentence

vacuous

adjective
Definition of vacuousnext
Synonyms for vacuousnext
  • He had a vacuous expression on his face.
  • The present is vacuous, a vessel for the past, and the dead are more real than the living.
    — Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 5 Oct. 2021
  • These are legally vacuous and don’t pass the laugh test.
    — Noah Feldman Bloomberg Opinion (tns), Star Tribune, 5 Nov. 2020
  • The top 100 list says a whole lot about how vacuous Twitter has become.
    — Kevin Maney, Newsweek, 10 Jan. 2017
  • Why are the lives and opinions of vacuous celebrities leading our news?
    — Orange County Register, 14 Feb. 2017
  • This, not parsing the body language of world leaders at a vacuous meet-and-greet, is what the press should be covering.
    — Walter Russell Mead, WSJ, 10 July 2017
  • The election was one of the most vacuous in recent memory.
    — Ryan C. Berg, National Review, 13 Dec. 2019
  • Great idea, but the vacuous execution was a flop with the public, for all kinds of reasons.
    — Sharyn Jackson, Star Tribune, 29 Jan. 2021
  • Don’t care for the song, especially the words (vacuous).
    — Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 2 Nov. 2017
  • But the words nasty, vacuous and damaging to democracy come to mind.
    — John Baer, Philly.com, 9 Apr. 2018
  • Nice to be inside what is ever left of your vacuous melon.
    — Bryan Schott, The Salt Lake Tribune, 16 Oct. 2020
  • But the vacuous smile this throwback musical leaves with you is hardly a crime.
    — Charles McNulty, latimes.com, 23 Oct. 2017
  • This show began in a place of vacuous amorality and, in this fourth outing, restates once more that the people at the center of the frame are very, very bad.
    — Daniel D'addario, Variety, 18 Jan. 2022
  • One problem with assessing the rise and fall of wokeness is that the term is vacuous to the point of being meaningless.
    — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb. 2023
  • Unlike the vacuous domes now home to Final Fours, this perspective is known to help shooters find their touch.
    — Michael Casagrande | [email protected], al, 27 Mar. 2021
  • Here comes Clinton Heylin to hew a path through the trash heap of vacuous biographies and inferior works.
    — John Semley, The New Republic, 26 May 2021
  • Their ceaseless quest for distraction ends up exposing them to the vacuous truth of normal life.
    — Sheila Liming, The Atlantic, 31 Dec. 2022
  • The verses are vacuous, the insults have no teeth, and just when the whole thing seems to be leading up to a gigantic redemptive chorus, suddenly pop!
    — Nate Jones, Vulture, 11 Jan. 2021
  • And from vacuous Sidney Poitier movies and the promises after riots.
    — Gail Sheehy, Daily Intelligencer, 9 Sep. 2017
  • People may have written the band off to be sort of vacuous and disposable, but that documentary really did change a lot of people's minds about the band.
    — Izzy Grinspan, Harper's BAZAAR, 29 Oct. 2021
  • Both sell a vacuous simulacrum of a lifestyle that does not match up with reality.
    — T.d. Williams, The Root, 26 Apr. 2018
  • The first order of business was transforming the vacuous, 40-foot-tall storefront space on the building’s eastern exposure.
    — Anna Fixsen, ELLE Decor, 24 Mar. 2021
  • By contrast, grievers hear so many vacuous phrases that a little straight talk can often be a welcome relief.
    — Bruce Feiler, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2016
  • Gene is a nice if somewhat vacuous young male, although not entirely human.
    — David Holahan, USA TODAY, 19 Dec. 2017
  • Clusters of truly vacuous paintings — a cattle skull with a garland of pink flowers, a unicorn silhouette filled with stars — crowded the walls.
    — Brendan Fitzgerald, Longreads, 10 Aug. 2020
  • Where Wodehouse tells somewhat vacuous stories in exquisite comic prose, Ephron brings wisdom and insight along with the laughs.
    — Max De Haldevang, Quartz, 27 Dec. 2019
  • This is such a vague and general admonishment to be almost vacuous.
    — Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 14 Sep. 2013
  • But that’s what makes Stephens’ argument—that uncertainty about climate science is grounds to do less about climate change—vacuous.
    — William Saletan, Slate Magazine, 3 May 2017
  • If, as now seems likely, Traven’s novel was a primary inspiration for the group’s name, why did Hans give the Gestapo such a vacuous explanation?
    — Jud Newborn, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Feb. 2023
  • The campaign has been all the more vacuous given that Republicans have put forth no actual solutions to crime that may be taking place, other than building more jails and throwing more people in them.
    — Prem Thakker, The New Republic, 19 Apr. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'vacuous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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