Meaning & use
vacancy
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A job that is open because nobody currently holds it, and for which a person can apply.
Grammar: Countable: there is a vacancy, two vacancies; usually used with for or in.
Patterns
- a vacancy for someone
- a vacancy in something
- fill a vacancy
The school has a vacancy for a science teacher.
She applied for a vacancy in the marketing department.
The company filled the vacancy within a week.
nouncountable or uncountable
A room or space in a hotel, building or parking area that is free to be used.
Grammar: Signs often show Vacancy or No Vacancy; the plural is used when there are several rooms.
Patterns
- a vacancy at somewhere
- no vacancies
The motel had a vacancy, so we stayed the night.
There are no vacancies at any of the hotels this weekend.
The apartment building has two vacancies on the third floor.
noununcountableliterary
A blank, empty quality in a person's expression or thoughts, showing a lack of attention or interest.
Grammar: Rare and literary; usually used for facial expressions, as in a vacancy in his stare.
Patterns
- a vacancy in someone's eyes
A strange vacancy settled over his face when they mentioned the accident.
The vacancy in her stare worried the doctor.
He answered with a polite vacancy that showed he had not listened.
Word forms
| plural | vacancies |
|---|
Common combinations
- fill a vacancy
- The firm hopes to fill the vacancy by June.
- job vacancy
- A job vacancy was posted on the website yesterday.
- vacancy rate
- The city's vacancy rate dropped as more people moved in.
- no vacancies
- The sign said no vacancies, so we drove on.
- advertise a vacancy
- They advertised the vacancy in the local paper.
Synonyms and how they differ
- opening
- Opening is a close, slightly less formal word for a job, though it is not used for hotel rooms.
- opportunity
- Opportunity is broader and suggests a chance, not specifically an empty position.
- availability
- Availability refers to whether something can be booked or used, and it does not point to one open place.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: vacancy or vacation?
vacancy vs vacation
A vacation is time off for rest or travel, and a vacancy is an empty job or room. They share a root but are not interchangeable.
Practice
The hotel had no ___ during the festival, so we booked a room in the next town.
Choose one answer.
No vacancies means no free rooms. Vacations means time off, and vacants and vacates are not the right noun form.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “vacancy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.