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Empty vs Commonplace - What's the difference?

empty | commonplace | Related terms |

In obsolete terms the difference between empty and commonplace

is that empty is producing nothing; unfruitful; said of a plant or tree while commonplace is to utter commonplaces; to indulge in platitudes.

As adjectives the difference between empty and commonplace

is that empty is devoid of content; containing nothing or nobody; vacant while commonplace is ordinary; having no remarkable characteristics.

As verbs the difference between empty and commonplace

is that empty is to make empty; to void; to remove the contents of while commonplace is to make a commonplace book.

As nouns the difference between empty and commonplace

is that empty is a container, especially a bottle, whose contents have been used up, leaving it empty while commonplace is a platitude or cliché.

empty

English

Adjective

(er)
  • Devoid of content; containing nothing or nobody; vacant.
    • an empty''' purse; an '''empty''' jug; an '''empty stomach
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=October 23 , author=Phil McNulty , title=Man Utd 1 - 6 Man City , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=United's stature is such that one result must not bring the immediate announcement of a shift in the balance of power in Manchester - but the swathes of empty seats around Old Trafford and the wave of attacks pouring towards David de Gea's goal in the second half emphasised that City quite simply have greater firepower and talent in their squad at present.}}
  • (computing, programming) Containing no elements (as of a string or array), opposed to being null (having no valid value).
  • (obsolete) Free; clear; devoid; often with of .
  • * Milton
    • that fair female troop empty of all good
  • * Shakespeare
    • I shall find you empty of that fault.
  • Having nothing to carry; unburdened.
  • * Shakespeare
    • an empty messenger
  • * Bible, Exodus iii. 21
    • When ye go ye shall not go empty .
  • Destitute of effect, sincerity, or sense; said of language.
    • empty words, or threats
  • * Cibber
    • Words are but empty thanks.
  • Unable to satisfy; hollow; vain.
    • empty pleasures
  • * Alexander Pope
    • pleas'd in the silent shade with empty praise
  • Destitute of reality, or real existence; unsubstantial.
    • empty dreams
  • (obsolete) Producing nothing; unfruitful; said of a plant or tree.
    • an empty vine
  • * Bible, Genesis xli. 27
    • seven empty ears blasted with the east wind
  • Destitute of, or lacking, sense, knowledge, or courtesy.
    • empty''' brains; an '''empty coxcomb
  • * Shakespeare
    • that in civility thou seem'st so empty

    Synonyms

    * (devoid of content) unoccupied, clear, , toom, clean

    Antonyms

    * full

    Derived terms

    * empty-handed * emptiness * empty product * empty set * empty sum

    Verb

  • (ergative) To make empty; to void; to remove the contents of.
    • to empty a well or a cistern
    The cinema emptied quickly after the end of the film.
  • * Bible, Eccl. xi. 3
    • The clouds empty themselves upon the earth.

    Antonyms

    * fill

    Derived terms

    * empty the tank

    Noun

    (empties)
  • A container, especially a bottle, whose contents have been used up, leaving it empty.
    • Put the empties out to be recycled.

    Derived terms

    * emptiness * run on empty

    External links

    * * English refractory feminine rhymes 1000 English basic words

    commonplace

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Ordinary; having no remarkable characteristics.
  • * 1824 , Sir (Walter Scott), , ch. 7:
    • "This Mr. Tyrrel," she said, in a tone of authoritative decision, "seems after all a very ordinary sort of person, quite a commonplace man."
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1 , passage=In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned.}}
  • * 1911 , (w), (Under Western Eyes) , ch. 1:
    • I could get hold of nothing but of some commonplace phrases, those futile phrases that give the measure of our impotence before each other's trials.

    Synonyms

    * routine * undistinguished * unexceptional * See also

    Antonyms

    * distinguished * inimitable * unique

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A platitude or .
  • * 1899 , , Active Service , ch. 17:
    • Finally he began to mutter some commonplaces which meant nothing particularly.
  • * 1910 , , His Hour , ch. 4:
    • And something angered Tamara in the way the Prince assisted in all this, out-commonplacing her friend in commonplaces with the suavest politeness.
  • Something that is ordinary.
  • * 1891 , , "A Case of Identity" in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes :
    • "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere commonplaces of existence."
  • A memorandum; something to be frequently consulted or referred to.
  • * Jonathan Swift
    • Whatever, in my reading, occurs concerning this our fellow creature, I do never fail to set it down by way of commonplace .
  • A commonplace book.

    • Verb

    (commonplac)
  • To make a commonplace book.
  • To enter in a commonplace book, or to reduce to general heads.
  • * Felton
    • I do not apprehend any difficulty in collecting and commonplacing an universal history from the historians.
  • (obsolete) To utter commonplaces; to indulge in platitudes.
  • * 1910 , , His Hour , ch. 4:
    • And something angered Tamara in the way the Prince assisted in all this, out-commonplacing her friend in commonplaces with the suavest politeness.
    (Francis Bacon)

    Related terms

    * commonplace book English calques