空 空 如 也

kōng kōng rú yědictionary entry

as empty as anything (idiom) / completely bereft / to have nothing / vacuous / hollow / empty (argument, head etc)

Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-43ef260be929e3a6. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

空空如也 空空如也 [kong1 kong1 ru2 ye3] /as empty as anything (idiom); completely bereft/to have nothing/vacuous/hollow/empty (argument, head etc)/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

空
kōng
empty / air / sky / in vain
kòng
to empty / vacant / unoccupied / space / leisure / free time
空
kōng
empty / air / sky / in vain
kòng
to empty / vacant / unoccupied / space / leisure / free time
如
rú
as / as if / such as
也
yě
also / too / as well / (not ...) either / (used after a verbal or nominal expression X to indicate that X is an extreme or unexpected case) even (X) / (literary) particle having functions similar to 啊[a]
Yě
surname Ye

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.