空空如也

kōngkōng-rúyě

idiom #24,491

Meanings

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

Characters

like / as / as if

classical sentence-final particle / also

Examples

HSK 4

打开冰箱一看，里面空空如也。

Dǎkāi bīngxiāng yí kàn, lǐmiàn kōngkōng-rúyě.

Opening the fridge, it was completely empty inside.

HSK 4

经历了这次失败，他感到心里空空如也。

Jīnglì le zhècì shībài, tā gǎndào xīnlǐ kōngkōng-rúyě.

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