Vacuousness

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈvækju.əsnəs/

Definitions

1. The quality of being empty of ideas or significance, often highlighting a lack of depth or meaning in thoughts
2. The state of lacking substance or profound thought, often implying a superficial or empty nature in one's intellect or discourse
3. The state of showing little or no intelligence or sense ; the quality of containing no real content or meaning

Etymology: "Vacuousness" is a plain English formation: the adjective "vacuous" with the suffix "-ness" added to turn a quality into a noun. The adjective itself comes from the Latin "vacuus," meaning empty, which gave English "vacuum" as well. The suffix is far older than the borrowed root. "-ness" descends from Old English "-nes," a native Germanic ending that has been attached to adjectives since the earliest English, so "vacuousness" is a hybrid: a Latin-derived stem wrapped in a homegrown ending. The sense of the word follows the adjective's move from physical emptiness to mental emptiness. "Vacuous" originally described a literal void or open space, and only later came to describe a person or expression that seems to contain nothing behind it. "Vacuousness," then, names the quality of a face, remark or mind that looks blank because nothing is going on inside.

Synonyms: emptiness, hollowness, void, insipidity, futility

Antonyms: fullness, significance, meaning, substance, depth