1.
empty; hollow; void
Describing something that lacks substance, meaning, or emotional fulfillment.
一人で過ごす夜は空しい。
Nights spent alone feel empty.
2.
futile; vain; pointless
Describing efforts or actions that are meaningless or produce no results.
努力が報われず、空しさを感じた。
My efforts went unrewarded, and I felt a sense of futility.
何を言っても空しい抵抗だった。
No matter what I said, it was futile resistance.
FORMS:
- 空しい (dictionary/attributive)
- 空しさ (noun form: emptiness, futility)
- 空しく (adverbial: in vain, emptily)
KANJI VARIATIONS:
Can also be written as 虚しい, though 空しい is more common.
COMMON EXPRESSIONS:
- 空しく終わる - to end in vain
- 空しさを感じる - to feel emptiness
- 空しい努力 - futile effort
SIMILAR WORDS:
- やるせない - forlorn, helpless (more about suppressed emotions)
- 物足りない - unsatisfying, lacking (something is missing)
- 儚い - fleeting, ephemeral
REGISTER:
Neutral to literary. Common in both casual and written contexts.