These words all refer to conditions characterized by the absence of people or things. Vacant and empty , the most general in this sense, can both mean containing or holding nothing: a vacant allotment; an empty hallway. But vacant is usually restricted to the absence of people occupying a place, whereas empty has a much wider range of application and may refer to anything that does not have the usual or proper contents. An empty theatre may have a few people in it, but a vacant theatre is one wholly without occupants and probably not in use. Vacant implies longer duration or a more settled state than does empty . A vacant flat is one that is not currently occupied by tenants and is available for renting; an empty flat is simply one that does not have people in it at a given time: Burglars broke into the empty flat while the tenants were away on holidays. Both vacant and empty are used in extended senses that imply the lack of essential qualities. Vacant can mean uninspired, dull, vapid or listless, and suggests a lack of intelligence or point: a vacant stare. Empty can mean hollow, meaningless or bland, and suggests a lack of significance or substance: empty promises; empty dreams.

Unfilled and open , in the context of this comparison, are alike in meaning available or not taken, both refer to the absence of a person or persons from some specific position: The office manager’s job is still unfilled (or open ) after three months.

Unoccupied is like vacant in its reference to a state created by the absence of people, but does not so strongly suggest, as vacant does, that the absence of occupants is temporary: an old, unoccupied house alleged to be haunted.

Devoid , from the past participle of an obsolete word that meant to empty out, means emptied, not possessing or destitute, and is used with "of": Devoid of hope, the shipwreched sailors resigned themselves to the promise of never again seeing their loved ones. Empty also can be used in this way: The poem was empty of beauty, and without any moral grandeur. In this sense bereft , the past tense and past participle of bereave , is also commonly used as an adjective meaning deprived: bereft of joy. Devoid and empty , unlike bereft , are used to describe the absence of physical things: a lake devoid of fish owing to the pollution of the water; streets empty of people.

Free , in the sense here considered, means cleared or devoid of something, and is used with "of" or "from": free from any taint of scandal; free of infection.