substanceless
Lacking physical form
Substanceless means lacking substance—empty, insubstantial, without real content or significance.
A substanceless argument offers no solid reasoning.
A substanceless meal leaves you hungry.
The word applies to anything that fails to deliver expected weight or meaning: substanceless promises, substanceless rhetoric that impressed no one.
Not physically present
- etherealDelicate beyond earthly measure
- ghostlyResembling a specter
- spectralGhostlike or wavelength-related
- phantasmalLike an apparition
incorporeal · bodiless · disembodied · wraithlike · vaporous · gossamer · airy · weightless
Holding nothing inside
husk · superficial · shallow · meaningless · purposeless · worthless · trivial · nugatory
Passing very quickly
- transientTemporary, soon departing
- momentaryLasting very briefly
- evanescentTending to vanish quickly
- passingMoving by or temporary
short-lived · transitory · impermanent · fugacious · vanishing · fading · evaporating · dissipating
Unclear and formless
- indefiniteNot precisely determined
- amorphousWithout distinct shape
- indistinctUnclear, hard to perceive
- unclearNot easily understood
fuzzy · hazy · shapeless · unformed · blurry · ill-defined · obscure · indeterminate
intangible
Not physically present
- etherealDelicate beyond earthly measure
- ghostlyResembling a specter
- spectralGhostlike or wavelength-related
phantasmal · incorporeal · bodiless · disembodied · wraithlike · vaporous · gossamer · airy · weightless · impalpable
empty
Holding nothing inside
shell · husk · superficial · shallow · meaningless · purposeless · worthless · trivial · nugatory · devoid
fleeting
Passing very quickly
- transientTemporary, soon departing
- momentaryLasting very briefly
- evanescentTending to vanish quickly
passing · short-lived · transitory · impermanent · fugacious · vanishing · fading · evaporating · dissipating · perishable
nebulous
Unclear and formless
- indefiniteNot precisely determined
- amorphousWithout distinct shape
- indistinctUnclear, hard to perceive
unclear · fuzzy · hazy · shapeless · unformed · blurry · ill-defined · obscure · indeterminate · imprecise
substancelesssubstantial
Of notable size or importance
substantive · meaningful · weighty · significant · profound
substancelesssubstantial
Of notable size or importance
filling · hearty · nourishing · sustaining · rich
less, substance, substantial, insubstantial, quintessence, substantiate, substantially, substances, unsubstantial