run on empty

verb

To be losing enthusiasm or willingness; to lack motivation.

“Near-synonyms: run on fumes, run out of steam”

Similar
run on fumesrun out of steam
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Meanings

verbrun on empty (third-person singular simple present runs on empty, present participle running on empty, simple past ran on empty, past participle run on empty)

present singular third person runs on empty · participle present running on empty · past ran on empty

  1. idiomaticTo be losing enthusiasm or willingness; to lack motivation.

    Near-synonyms: run on fumes, run out of steam

    2 more examples

    He has been running on empty for a while. It's likely the project will be canceled.

    Doctors and nurses on the front lines are running on empty, under increasing duress as the pandemic surges and hospitals are overrun with patients.

    2020 November 25, Katherine J. Wu, “Covid Combat Fatigue: ‘I Would Come Home With Tears in My Eyes’”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

    Synonyms: run on fumes, run out of steam

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo be losing enthusiasm or willingness; to lack motivation.

Similar
run on fumesrun out of steam
Also see
run on fumesrun out of steam

Origin

An allusion to a vehicle operating with the fuel gauge pointing to empty or near empty, likely to stop running in the very near future.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

run on empty. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/run%20on%20empty

MLA

“run on empty.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/run%20on%20empty. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “run on empty,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/run%20on%20empty.

Source: run on empty on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.