adjective

• 1(of premises) having no fixtures, furniture, or inhabitants; empty.

  ‘This assumes the premises were left vacant in the condition required by the lease.’

  Compare with unoccupied (sense 1 of the adjective)

  More example sentences

  • ‘All vacant premises between The Medical Hall on Greencastle Street and McAnulty's Bar on Newry Street will be flattened.’
  • ‘We do not need another retail complex, just look at the number of vacant premises around the centre.’
  • ‘The company closed its doors last summer and its premises have been vacant for nine months.’
  • ‘Until last winter, the brown structure was a vacant building.’
  • ‘Staff and pupils at the school are to move to the new £15m Endeavour High School for the autumn term, leaving the premises vacant.’
  • ‘Up to £2,000 is available for new businesses occupying vacant premises and employing at least one member of staff.’
  • ‘The demolition of the vacant shop premises in the estate was a major achievement for the Development Committee.’
  • ‘The house was listed for sale and was left vacant for approximately ten months before the plaintiff offered to purchase the house in April of 1991.’
  • ‘The door led into an empty shop, vacant for the past two months since the little card shop moved downtown.’
  • ‘The family escaped to a nearby vacant house but the fires continued.’
  • ‘They moved there four years ago when the old village bakery became vacant.’
  • ‘The room in front of her lies vacant, lifeless but grandly lighted.’
  • ‘In the middle is a small boarded-up chapel that has been vacant for years.’
  • ‘Leaving it vacant would result in it almost certainly being vandalised.’
  • ‘He does have a point about the house being left vacant for months.’
  • ‘Today over 500 buildings, 2,500 residential units and 250 storefronts stand vacant.’
  • ‘Slowly it opened revealing an empty vacant room and a floor stripped of the carpet.’
  • ‘Police say one other burned building was vacant and three were occupied.’
  • ‘While we were in Sao Paulo, 5,000 homeless people led by the Union of Housing Movements occupied six vacant buildings in the city.’

  Synonyms

  empty, unoccupied, unfilled, free, available, not in use, unused, unengaged, uninhabited, untenanted, tenantless, to let, for sale, on the market, abandoned, deserted

  View synonyms

  1. 1.1(of a position or office) not filled.
     ‘the president resigned and the post was left vacant’
     More example sentences

     • ‘They also demanded that the government fill all vacant positions and issue employees with at least four sets of uniforms.’
     • ‘For a fraction of the cost of newspaper ads, companies can fill their vacant positions within days.’
     • ‘A $15 million deficit this year resulted in a freeze on filling vacant positions and buying office and classroom supplies.’
     • ‘We anticipate a severe nursing shortage in the next few years and presently do not have enough lab or x-ray techs to fill vacant positions.’
     • ‘Bradford on Avon police has one special constable, a voluntary, part time position, but is planning to advertise for more people to fill vacant positions.’
     • ‘Church members are more aware of volunteer opportunities, and vacant positions are being filled.’
     • ‘It will be responsible for people's postings, promotions and assisting in filling vacant positions.’
     • ‘One major concern for the depots was the amount of time required to fill vacant positions.’
     • ‘Most hospitals are scrambling like crazy to try to fill vacant positions.’
     • ‘Despite the economic slowdown, there is still a need for overseas workers to fill positions that remain vacant in many industries.’
     • ‘It decided against filling the vacant post and the position won't be reviewed until later in the year.’
     • ‘Three months later the vacant position at the school has still not been filled and it seems there is no sign of the position being filled in the immediate future.’
     • ‘In addition to lay-offs, another 150 vacant positions will not be filled.’
     • ‘Already-strapped budgets were being cut further and all vacant positions were frozen, leaving a staffing shortage throughout campus.’
     • ‘There were nine candidates for the vacant position.’
     • ‘The result has been posts being left vacant for months as the University finds it hard to fill them.’
     • ‘More than one in 12 social worker posts are currently vacant.’
     • ‘Robinson encourages him to apply for the deputy news editor position currently vacant at the paper.’
     • ‘The post fell vacant following Stuart Gulliver's decision to take up a new academic position.’
     • ‘The council adopted a policy of merging schools where the position of headteacher at one falls vacant.’
  2. 1.2(of a person or their expression) having or showing no intelligence or interest.
     ‘a vacant stare’
     More example sentences

     • ‘He stared back with a vacant expression and his mouth slightly ajar.’
     • ‘As our flashlights shone across his face, he looked up with a lifeless, vacant expression.’
     • ‘His vacant eyes lifted to stare out into the distance.’
     • ‘As he left, he cast one last, longing glance in her direction, receiving nothing in exchange but the same cold, vacant stare from her.’
     • ‘His eyes, vacant and glassy, stared silently at the sky.’
     • ‘She noticed Vincent's vacant look as he stared down at the river.’
     • ‘Twenty-four pairs of glossy, vacant eyes stared back up at me and I felt my self-confidence begin to falter.’
     • ‘Her vacant, doe-eyed stare into the camera shows little of the star quality that would make her a Hollywood legend.’
     • ‘His eyes were open but vacant, staring at something that wasn't even there.’
     • ‘She fixes those beady eyes on me, and I give her my best vacant stare back.’
     • ‘He brushed a hand through his hair, his vacant blue eyes staring off to the side.’
     • ‘He sits in an old rocking chair on a porch, a guitar on his knee and a vacant stare on his face.’
     • ‘He was carrying a plastic shopping bag and had a fairly benign, but vacant, expression on his face.’
     • ‘An endless parade of hungry children with vacant expressions overwhelmed them.’
     • ‘In a doorway, three young boys stare out with vacant eyes, inhaling deeply from glass jars filled with glue or gasoline.’
     • ‘He can't see my face, hasn't noticed my largely vacant expression.’
     • ‘Blake gazed at the both of them then, his face becoming more vacant.’
     • ‘A couple seconds passed, and then his confused face turned vacant, empty.’
     • ‘He was strangely giggling but his eyes remained vacant.’
     • ‘She just looked vacant, lost and empty; it was awful.’
     Synonyms

     blank, expressionless, deadpan, inscrutable, inexpressive, poker-faced, emotionless, impassive, absent, absent-minded, uninterested, vacuous, empty, glassy, stony, wooden, motionless, lifeless, inanimate

     empty-headed, unintelligent, without thought, brainless, dense, dull-witted, thick, vacuous, inane, stupid

     View synonyms