underoccupied

Too few inhabitants

Underoccupied describes a space with fewer people using it than it could accommodate.

A house is underoccupied when one person rattles around in five bedrooms: The city's underoccupied housing stock could shelter thousands.

The term appears in housing policy discussions about inefficient use of residential space, particularly when large homes are inhabited by aging couples whose children have moved out.

spatial

empty

Holding nothing inside

vacantWithout an occupant
sparseThinly scattered or distributed
desertedLeft behind, uninhabited

unused · hollow · bare · unfilled · available · untenanted · dormant · idle · neglected · abandoned

housing

vacancy

Unoccupied space or position

emptyHolding nothing inside
dwellingPlace of residence
spareHeld in reserve

bedrooms · property · census · household · single · rattling · downsizing · surplus · rooms · estate

employment

underemployed

Inadequately employed for qualifications

part-timeLimited work schedule
hoursSixty-minute spans
reducedMade less in amount

idle · workforce · capacity · staff · redundant · slack · downtime · furlough · bench · unutilized

Opposites

occupancy level

underoccupiedovercrowded

Filled beyond capacity

overoccupied · overpopulated · packed · crammed · full

utilization efficiency

underoccupiedoverutilized

Employed too heavily

overused · overstretched · strained · overburdened

utilization

underoccupiedoverutilized

Employed too heavily

stretched · overburdened · overworked · saturated

Family

occupy, occupation, preoccupied, occupied, occupant, unoccupied, occupants, occupancy, occupier

Familiarity: Top 500,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Everyday, not technical · Rated G