empty chair
Seat awaiting someone
An empty chair is a seat with no one in it.
The phrase often carries symbolic weight—an empty chair at a family gathering marks someone's absence, whether through death, estrangement, or distance: We set a place for Grandma even though her chair was empty.
In debate or politics, an empty chair represents a candidate or opponent who refused to appear, sometimes addressed theatrically as if they were present.
Having no occupant
- vacantWithout an occupant
- desertedLeft behind, uninhabited
- unfilledNot occupied or completed
- reservedRestrained in manner
waiting · placeholder · unclaimed · untaken · seating · place setting · name card · gathering
Period following loss
- lossBeing without something
- bereavementState following loss
- memorialThing preserving remembrance
- remembranceAct of holding something in mind
loved one · passing · death · funeral · shiva · wake · tribute · honor
State of not being
- voidWithout legal effect
- missing personUnlocated person sought by authorities
- disappearedCeased to exist visibly
- political prisonerJailed for ideology
POW · MIA · protest · vigil · solidarity · witness · statement · awareness
Curative mental treatment
- role-playAssume a character temporarily
- dialogueSpoken exchange between parties
- projectionSomething that extends outward
- psychodramaTherapy through enacted scenes
hot seat · integration · catharsis · confrontation · inner conflict · unfinished business · therapeutic · visualization
Available employment position
- recruitmentSeeking new personnel
- leadership gapAbsence of direction-givers
- successorOne who replaces another
- interimProvisional in-between phase
acting · resignation · retirement · departure · boardroom · committee · council seat · appointment
unoccupied
Having no occupant
reserved · waiting · placeholder · unclaimed · untaken · seating · place setting · name card · gathering · dinner table
mourning
Period following loss
- lossBeing without something
- bereavementState following loss
- memorialThing preserving remembrance
remembrance · loved one · passing · death · funeral · shiva · wake · tribute · honor · anniversary
absence
State of not being
- voidWithout legal effect
- missing personUnlocated person sought by authorities
- disappearedCeased to exist visibly
political prisoner · POW · MIA · protest · vigil · solidarity · witness · statement · awareness · human rights
therapy
Curative mental treatment
- role-playAssume a character temporarily
- dialogueSpoken exchange between parties
- projectionSomething that extends outward
psychodrama · hot seat · integration · catharsis · confrontation · inner conflict · unfinished business · therapeutic · visualization · resolution
job opening
Available employment position
- recruitmentSeeking new personnel
- leadership gapAbsence of direction-givers
- successorOne who replaces another
interim · acting · resignation · retirement · departure · boardroom · committee · council seat · appointment · nomination
- therapy techniquesCBT, play therapy, art therapy, exposure therapy, group therapy
- Protest Symbolsraised fist, clenched fist, solidarity fist, fist, peace symbol
- drama therapypsychodrama, sociodrama, drama therapy, role play, role-playing
- GestaltGestalt, Gestalt therapy, figure-ground, closure, proximity
- funeral itemscasket, cremation urn, shroud, funeral program, guest book
- death symbolsskull, skeleton, coffin, tombstone, gravestone
empty, chair, chairs, emptiness, armchair, wheelchair, chairless