vacuous

/ˈvækju.əs/

//ˈvækju.əs// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"vacuous" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“vacuous” is uncommon English (frequency #50,880 among 969 “V” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#50,880
frequency rank, English
969
“V” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Empty; void; lacking meaningful content.

Corpus desk

Index EN-vacuous · vacuous · English

vacuous · rank #50,880 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #50,880
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 969
  • PHOTO-FINISH usury

Nearest frequency peer: usury (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “vacuous”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “vacuous” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for vacuous
PropertyValue
Headwordvacuous
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈvækju.əs/
Letters7
Frequency rank#50,880
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “vacuous” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).vacuousfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “usury” (#50,879), “untangle” (#50,878), “unreserved” (#50,877). Among 969 “V” headwords, “vacuous” is #50,880. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

vacuous is uncommon English at frequency #50,880 among 969 “V” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈvækju.əs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for vacuous in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: Learned borrowing from Latin vacuus (“empty, vacant”) + -ous. The correct English form is vacuous, spelled V-A-C-U-O-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Empty; void; lacking meaningful content.
  2. 2
    Showing a lack of thought or intelligence; vacant.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how vacuous appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. vacuous expression
  2. vacuous remark

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin vacuus (“empty, vacant”) + -ous.

This word in other languages

vacuo(Español)niais(Français)leer(Deutsch)vazio(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "vacuous"?
"vacuous" is spelled V-A-C-U-O-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈvækju.əs/.
What does "vacuous" mean?
As an adjective, "vacuous" means: Empty; void; lacking meaningful content.
How do you pronounce "vacuous"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "vacuous" is /ˈvækju.əs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "vacuous"?
Learned borrowing from Latin vacuus (“empty, vacant”) + -ous. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "vacuous", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

venturi#50,885vestige#50,886Vicodin#50,888wharves#50,897

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list