How to say "emptiness" in Japanese

• 空からJLPT N3approx.Common
  no-adjectiveCovers emptiness in the basic sense of something being empty. It is the general, everyday word, suitable when you simply want to say a container, room, or similar thing is empty.
  ほとんど空からなのでガソリンを入いれなくてはなりません。↗

  I need to put some gas in the car, as it's almost empty.
• 空虚くうきょCommon
  noun, na-adjectiveCovers emptiness as hollowness, vacancy, or a void, especially in an abstract or emotional sense, as in feeling empty inside. This is the word for that psychological or literary emptiness rather than a literally empty object.
  神かみに向むかって話はなしかけてみてもそこにあるのは空虚くうきょのみ。↗

  I talk to God but the sky is empty.
• 空きあきJLPT N3approx.Common
  nounRefers to emptiness as a state of being unfilled: a space, room, or gap that is vacant or available. It is really about free space, so it is usually not the word for abstract or emotional emptiness.
  字じと字じの間あいだの空あきをもっと広ひろくしなさい。↗

  Leave more space between characters.

Use 「空き」 for a physically empty space or vacancy, 空 for something being empty in a general sense, and 空虚 for the abstract, emotional hollowness or void sense of emptiness.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 空からemptiness
• 空虚くうきょemptiness
• 空きあきspace
• 空くうshunyata (the lack of an immutable intrinsic nature within any phenomenon)
• うつけhollowness