noun

hollow

HO-loh

noun

A small valley or dip between hills, or a sunken area on a surface.

"The old cottage sat in a hollow between two hills."

"Rainwater collected in a hollow in the rock."

An empty space or cavity inside something.

"Squirrels stored acorns in a hollow in the tree trunk."

adj

Having an empty space inside; not solid.

"The statue was hollow, not cast from solid bronze."

"A hollow chocolate egg looks bigger than it is."

Insincere or lacking real meaning or substance.

"His apology felt hollow because he kept making the same excuse."

"Their promises of reform turned out to be hollow."

verb

To dig or carve out a hole or cavity in something.

"They hollowed out a pumpkin to make a lantern."

How to Use Hollow

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishEmpty inside — either literally (a hollow tree) or figuratively (a hollow promise that has no real substance behind it).

Common mistake

Don't confuse the adjective (empty inside) with the figurative sense (insincere) — a hollow log is literal, a hollow apology is emotional.

Common pairings

hollow tree hollow promise hollow victory hollow out

hollower comparative, hollowed past tense, hollowed past tense, hollows plural, hollows singular, hollows singular, hollowest superlative

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Can you complete this real example?

The old cottage sat in a _____ between two hills.

From Old English holh, "a hollow place," ultimately going back to a very old Germanic root also connected to the word "hole."