Emptyhanded

Pronunciation varies by accent · adjective

Meaning

With nothing in one's hands..

Definitions by Sense

1. With nothing in one's hands.
2. Impoverished; having no money or resources.
3. Having nothing to offer.
4. Having received or acquired nothing.
5. Having nothing to offer; unable to give what was promised.
6. Unarmed.

Example Sentences

Near-synonyms: unburdened, unencumbered, unladen

If, for example, Oswald was not "emptyhanded" but, as the original reports had it, had been drinking a Coca-Cola — there was a vending machine in the lunchroom where the encounter occurred — then he almost certainly could not have left the sixth-floor window after firing the shots, hid the rifle on the sixth floor, run down to the second floor, entered the lunchroom, operated the machine, ...

As he walked about in the village, Isaac saw those inhabitants who had come to the Land emptyhanded and now own fields and vineyards and houses full of good things, not by virtue of observing the Torah and pious deeds, for the Biluim were free thinkers and their feet too are on the ground, but because they're Russians and I'm from Galicia, and even the one small village the Galicians put up fell to rack and ruin.

I come to this conference bearing neither a new slogan nor a basket full of gifts. But I do not come emptyhanded. I come with the promise of the Government and people of the United States to work with you...

Returning "emptyhanded" doesn't always mean that you didn't get what you set out for.

"Have you got anything, my dear? If you are emptyhanded, go emptyhanded." But the shopper said, "Sisters, stop teasing him, for by God, he served me well today; no one else would have been as patient with me. Whatever his share will come to, I shall pay for him myself.

Antar neglected his boat and his nets for three days on end, and when, on the entreaties of his wife and children, he brought himself to go back to sea, he came back in the evening emptyhanded.

...he promised to get concessions on container handling, and he cannot go to the dockers emptyhanded.

Synonyms for emptyhanded

Antonyms for emptyhanded

Related Words

Word Forms

• more emptyhanded
• most emptyhanded
• empty-handed

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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