How to say "void" in Japanese

• 無効むこうJLPT N1approx.Common
  no-adjective, na-adjectiveCovers 'void' in the legal or formal sense of having no effect, as in a void contract or a voided vote. If 'void' means invalid or null and void, this is the word you want.
  脅迫きょうはくのもとになされた約束やくそくは無効むこうだ。↗

  A promise given under a threat is worthless.
• 虚しいむなしいJLPT N1approx.Common
  i-adjectiveAn adjective for the emotional sense of 'void': feeling empty because effort or life seems futile or in vain. It describes a person's hollow, unfulfilled state rather than a physical or legal void.
• 空虚くうきょCommon
  noun, na-adjectiveA noun for emptiness or hollowness, often of the heart or of meaning — a void left by loss or a sense of inner vacuum. Use it when 'void' names an emptiness itself rather than something voided.
  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.
• 空白くうはくCommon
  no-adjective, na-adjectiveBest for the literal or structural sense: a blank space, a gap in a document, or a missing stretch in memory or records. As a translation of 'void' it is a marginal choice, really meaning 'blank' or 'gap'.
  母ははの死しは私の生涯しょうがいに大おおきな空白くうはくを残のこした。↗

  The death of my mother left a big blank in my life.

Use 無効 for legal or procedural voidness (invalid), 「虚しい」 for futility and emptiness of feeling, 空虚 for hollowness or a void of meaning, and 空白 for blanks or gaps.

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

• 無効むこうinvalid
• 虚しいむなしいempty
• 空虚くうきょemptiness
• 虚ろうつろcavity
• ボイドvoid
• 超空洞ちょうくうどうvoid
• 空空くうくうempty
• 空白くうはくblank
• 空孔くうこう(lattice) vacancy
• 空くうvoid (one of the five elements)