hollow

[hol-oh]

adjective

hollower, hollowest 

1. having a space or cavity inside; not solid; empty.

   a hollow sphere.

2. having a depression or concavity.

   a hollow surface.

3. sunken, as the cheeks or eyes.

4. (of sound) not resonant; dull, muffled, or deep.

   a hollow voice.

5. without real or significant worth; meaningless.

   a hollow victory.

   Synonyms: pointless, futile, empty, vain

6. insincere or false.

   hollow compliments.

7. hungry; having an empty feeling.

   I feel absolutely hollow, so let's eat.

noun

1. an empty space within anything; a hole, depression, or cavity.

2. a valley.

   They took the sheep to graze in the hollow.

3. Foundry.,  a concavity connecting two surfaces otherwise intersecting at an obtuse angle.

verb (used with object)

1. to make hollow (often followed byout ).

   to hollow out a log.

2. to form by making something hollow (often followed byout ).

   to hollow a place in the sand;

   boats hollowed out of logs.

verb (used without object)

1. to become hollow.

adverb

1. in a hollow manner.

   The politician's accusations rang hollow.

hollow

/ ˈhɒləʊ /

adjective

1. having a hole, cavity, or space within; not solid

2. having a sunken area; concave

3. recessed or deeply set

   hollow cheeks

4. (of sounds) as if resounding in a hollow place

5. without substance or validity

6. hungry or empty

7. insincere; cynical

8. the capacity to eat or drink a lot without ill effects

adverb

1. informal,  to defeat someone thoroughly and convincingly

noun

1. a cavity, opening, or space in or within something

2. a depression or dip in the land

verb

1. to make or become hollow

2. to form (a hole, cavity, etc) or (of a hole, etc) to be formed

Other Word Forms

• hollowly adverb
• hollowness noun
• half-hollow adjective
• unhollow adjective
• unhollowed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of hollow¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English holow, holw(e), Old English holh “a hollow place”; akin to hole

Word History and Origins

Origin of hollow¹

C12: from holu, inflected form of Old English holh cave; related to Old Norse holr, German hohl; see _hole

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. beat all hollow, to surpass or outdo completely: Also beat hollow.

   His performance beat the others all hollow.

see beat the pants off (hollow).

Example Sentences

Jimmy Carter’s appearance became more diminutive during his incumbency, but his teeth became bigger; Ronald Reagan’s face went from smiling to hollowed and ghostly.

From Salon

And the hollowing out of local newspapers is an interesting story that you could imagine a documentary crew from PBS being like, “Oh, this is a good story.”

From Los Angeles Times

The administration has touted the trade measures as a way to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States, arguing that decades of globalization hollowed out middle-class communities.

From Salon

The inner pallets of flooring were hollowed out to create a void where they could hide the drugs before organising shipping to Northern Ireland using a legitimate shipping agent who was unaware of the cannabis.

From BBC

Yet this year, such sanitized appeals of official memory rang increasingly hollow.

From Salon

Related Words

• empty 
• fruitless 
• futile 
• pointless 
• useless 
• worthless