Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Containing nothing; empty.
  • adjective Not occupied or put to use.
  • adjective Without an incumbent or occupant; unfilled.
  • adjective Not filled with any activity: synonym: empty.
  • adjective Law Lacking an identified heir.
  • adjective Lacking intelligence or knowledge.
  • adjective Lacking expression; blank.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Having no contents; empty; unfilled; void; devoid; destitute: as, a vacant space; a vacant room.
  • Not occupied or filled with an incumbent or tenant; unoccupied.
  • Not engaged or filled with business or care; unemployed; unoccupied; free; disengaged; idle: as, vacant hours.
  • Characterized by or proceeding from idleness or absence of mental occupation.
  • Free from thought; not given to thinking, study, reflection, or the like; thoughtless.
  • Lacking, or appearing to lack, intelligence; stupid; inane.
  • In law: Not filled; unoccupied: as, a vacant office
  • Empty: as, a vacant house. In the law of fire-insurance a house may be unoccupied, and yet not be deemed vacant.
  • Abandoned; having no heir: as, vacant effects or goods.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Deprived of contents; not filled; empty.
  • adjective Unengaged with business or care; unemployed; unoccupied; disengaged; free.
  • adjective Not filled or occupied by an incumbent, possessor, or officer; unoccupied.
  • adjective Empty of thought; thoughtless; not occupied with study or reflection.
  • adjective (Law) Abandoned; having no heir, possessor, claimant, or occupier.
  • adjective (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.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Not occupied; empty.
  • adjective Showing no intelligence or interest.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective void of thought or knowledge
  • adjective without an occupant or incumbent

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin vacāns, vacant-, present participle of vacāre, to be empty; see euə- in Indo-European roots.]

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Examples

  • "With the title vacant, a good win puts me right in line for a shot at the belt," said De Laronde.

    Edmonton Sun 2010

  • It is my decision that to be fair to the last two reigning champions of record, Hogan and Andre, and to furthermore be fair with the number-one contenders who would have faced either Andre or Hogan as champion, I now declare the title vacant.

    WWE Championship Kevin Sullivan 2010

  • Glancing up from my notes at the old man—his expression vacant, his head trembling slightly—it was impossible to imagine him involved in such an action.

    CONSPIRATA ROBERT HARRIS 2010

  • Next to the savages, I had always lived in fear of being discovered in my retreat by the police, who would certainly think it strange to find a man and his mother living in a shed, without any practicable outside door, in what they called a vacant lot.

    The Brick Moon, and Other Stories 1899

  • We've also repeatedly demanded that banks adequately maintain vacant foreclosed homes and transfer them quickly and responsibly to new owners.

    Gordon Whitman: Foreclosure Fraud Is the Tip of the Iceberg Gordon Whitman 2010

  • We've also repeatedly demanded that banks adequately maintain vacant foreclosed homes and transfer them quickly and responsibly to new owners.

    Gordon Whitman: Foreclosure Fraud Is the Tip of the Iceberg Gordon Whitman 2010

  • Marius Zaromskis to win vacant Strikeforce championship, TKO, first round

    USA TODAY/SB Nation consensus MMA rankings 2010

  • "There has been an increase in vacant homes, so choices are many," Zhan says, "especially for a first-time home buyer."

    Home sales in Lee's Summit, Mo., struggle to recover 2009

  • Our crezy economy: people get foreclosed and move into rental housing, and meanwhile they properties they vacate remain vacant and lead to neighborhood blight and depressed property values for their neighbors, who are therefore encouraged to default as well because they have negative equity.

    Matthew Yglesias » By Request: The Foreclosure People 2009

  • We've also repeatedly demanded that banks adequately maintain vacant foreclosed homes and transfer them quickly and responsibly to new owners.

    Gordon Whitman: Foreclosure Fraud Is the Tip of the Iceberg Gordon Whitman 2010

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