vacant stare
Lights on, nobody
A vacant stare is a blank, unfocused look suggesting the absence of thought or attention.
The eyes are open but seem to register nothing—as if the person has mentally checked out: She had a vacant stare, lost in her own thoughts.
It can indicate boredom, shock, exhaustion, or dissociation.
- blankWithout marks or content
- blank expressionFace devoid of emotion
- glassySmooth and shiny
- dazedShocked into mental fog
- unfocusedWithout clear direction
distant · hollow · empty · glazed · faraway · lost in thought · trance · zoned · zoned out · spaced · spaced out · checked out · lifeless · dead eyes · catatonic · dissociated · unseeing · zombie
- eye movementsgaze, blink, glance, squint, wink
- facial expressionssmiling, smile, grin, grinning, frown
- inattentiondistracted, spacing, absent-minded, distraction, obliviousness
- playing dumbfeign ignorance, willful ignorance, selective memory
- perceptionsee, vision, seeing, senses, observing
- emptinessemptiness, void, nothingness, blank, hollow