What does unfilled mean?
Unfilled is an adjective meaning that something is empty, incomplete, or still waiting to be occupied or completed. Its meaning depends on the noun it describes. An unfilled bottle or container has no contents, while an unfilled form contains blank spaces that have not been completed. Likewise, an unfilled position is a job or post for which no person has yet been selected. The word is widely understood in formal and informal English in Britain and the United States and is generally more precise than simply saying that something is "not full," particularly when referring to forms or vacancies. Unfilled often carries a mild implication of incompleteness or pending work: the absence may be temporary, as in an unfinished application, or may describe an object that has deliberately been left empty. In both physical and figurative contexts, the term points to something that has not yet been supplied, completed, or filled.
adjectiveNot containing anything or having been filled in; empty, vacant, or still awaiting completion.
- Not containing any contents; empty.
- Not yet completed, filled in, or occupied.
"The hiring manager left the position unfilled while the team reviewed its needs."
"She returned the bottle with an unfilled label."
"The position remained unfilled for several months."
Unfilled can describe both an empty container and a job no one has yet taken, linking emptiness with work still waiting to be done.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of unfilled
Unfilled was formed in English by combining the prefix un-, meaning "not," with the verb fill. Fill comes from Old English fyllan, meaning "to fill" or "make full," and is related to the modern English word full. The prefix has long been used in English to create negative adjectives, allowing unfilled to describe both an empty physical object and something that remains incomplete or vacant.
How unfilled is actually used
The word is neutral in register and is especially common for containers, forms, positions, and other things that have been left incomplete. It may occur before a noun, as in "an unfilled form," or after one, as in "The form was left unfilled."
Easily confused with unfilled
Unfilled means that something has not been filled or completed, whereas uninhabited means that no people live in a place.