devoid
- 01 C1 Advanced
completely without something, especially a quality like feeling or life.
entirely lacking or empty of a particular quality, substance, or attribute. Used predicatively and followed by the preposition 'of'.
Simple“The desert landscape was completely devoid of life for miles.”
In context“The legal document was written in a style so dry it was utterly devoid of any human emotion or warmth.”
UsageThis adjective is used after a verb like 'be' or 'seem' and must be followed by 'of' plus a noun phrase.
PitfallThe room was devoid from furniture. The room was devoid of furniture.Always use the preposition 'of' after devoid; do not use 'from' or 'with'.
“Listening to realms that may seem devoid of life invokes new understanding and can highlight the vibrancy of life, thriving in overlooked places.”
“Escapism is never devoid of the anxiety it’s running from, and of course lots of things beyond musicals can help us run from our problems.”
From obsolete Middle English verb devoiden, from Old French desvuidier (“to empty out”) (compare French dévider).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.