空空如也

kōngkōngrúyě

idiom #24,491

Meanings

1 completely empty
2 utterly bereft
3 as empty as can be

Characters

empty (reduplicated for emphasis)

like / as / as if

classical sentence-final particle / also

Examples

打开冰箱一看，里面空空如也。

Dǎkāi bīngxiāng yī kàn, lǐmiàn kōngkōngrúyě.

Opening the fridge, it was completely empty inside.

经历了这次失败，他感到心里空空如也。

Jīnglì le zhè cì shībài, tā gǎndào xīn lǐ kōngkōngrúyě.

After this failure, he felt a complete emptiness in his heart.

Tips

history

空空如也 comes from the Analects of Confucius (论语), where Confucius says of himself: 吾有知乎哉？无知也。有鄙夫问于我，空空如也 — describing a state of humble emptiness and openness to inquiry, not ignorance.

Stroke Order

空 kōng

如 rú

也 yě