What does vacated mean?
Vacated is the past tense and past participle of vacate, and it describes something that has been left empty after its occupants or former holders have departed. In its commonest sense, a vacated flat, building, office, or seat is no longer occupied; the term often appears in property notices, news reports, and institutional contexts. A second sense concerns giving up something one has held: a person vacates a position, claim, or office, so the vacated position becomes available to someone else. The word is neutral to formal and is more specific than simply saying that a place is “empty,” since it implies a prior presence and subsequent departure. In legal and administrative language, “vacated” can suggest an official withdrawal or forfeiture, whereas in everyday descriptions it usually means simply that the former occupants have gone. It is especially useful when the history of a space or role matters, rather than merely its current availability.
Emptied of its former occupants or contents; no longer occupied or used.
"Security guards inspected the vacated building before anyone could enter it."
The adjective often describes a property, place, seat, or role that has been formally or habitually left.
To leave or give up a place, position, office, or claim, thereby making it available or empty.
"The committee vacated the meeting hall after the final session ended."
Vacated is the past tense and past participle of the verb vacate.
From Latin vacare, meaning “to be empty,” vacated literally records a space becoming empty after its previous occupant has departed.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of vacated
Vacated is the past tense and past participle of vacate, a verb borrowed from Latin vacare, “to be empty” or “to be vacant.” The Latin family also produced English words such as vacant, vacuum, vacuous, and vacuity through the same notion of emptiness. In “a vacated seat,” the word literally preserves the idea of a place becoming empty after its previous occupant has departed.
Related word forms
How vacated is actually used
Neutral and widespread in British and American English. It is especially common in property, legal, institutional, and news contexts, where it can sound more formal than “left” but less final than “abandoned.”
Easily confused with vacated
Vacant describes something that is currently unoccupied, whereas vacated says that it was previously occupied and has since been left or made empty.
Evacuated means removed from a potentially dangerous area, often as a safety measure, whereas vacated generally means simply left or emptied.