What does voided mean?
Voided is the past tense and past participle of void, meaning to make something invalid, ineffective, or no longer valid. It is especially common in legal and administrative language: a court may void a contract, an institution may void a ticket, and a financial institution may void a check. In everyday contexts, voided can simply mean cancelled or rejected, as when a referee voided a result or an employer voided a job offer. The word generally suggests more than a routine cancellation, often implying that the affected item lacked proper authority or legitimacy. Although “emptied” or “cleared out” is another traditional sense, it is relatively uncommon. Voided is used in both British and American English and conveys a formal, decisive tone.
To make something invalid, null, ineffective, or cancelled; traditionally, also to empty or clear out.
"The regulator voided the licence pending a full investigation."
The legal and administrative sense is dominant today. The sense meaning “emptied” is formal and comparatively rare.
Having been made invalid, null, or ineffective.
"The parties challenged the validity of the voided agreement."
This is a participial adjective formed from the verb; it usually describes a contract, transaction, ticket, result, or document.
In legal usage, a voided transaction is treated as having no legal effect, rather than merely being difficult to enforce.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does voided come from?
The form voided developed from the English word void, which entered Middle English from Old French void, meaning “empty” or “without effect.” The French word ultimately comes from Latin vacare, “to be empty,” the source of related forms such as vacant, vacuous, and vacuum. Adding the English past-participle ending -ed produced the modern form used for actions that invalidate or cancel something.
How voided is actually used
The word is most common in legal, financial, administrative, and formal sporting contexts. In American English, voided is also frequently used for tickets, payments, permits, and results that have been invalidated. The sense meaning “emptied” is formal and much less frequent.
Easily confused with voided
Void is the base verb, adjective, and noun, whereas voided is its past tense and past participle.