Nothing crossword clue

The most likely answers for the crossword clue “Nothing” are ZERO, NULL or NADA, with 4 letters. Below are 18 answers from 3 to 9 letters, best match first in each length, then what each top answer means and how to tell them apart.

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The best answers, explained

ZIP 3 letters · noun

a quantity of no importance; thing (object:), singular, negative pronoun; pronoun, thing, singular; quantifier: negative existential

ZERO 4 letters · noun

a quantity of no importance; thing (object:), singular, negative pronoun; pronoun, thing, singular; quantifier: negative existential

ZILCH 5 letters · noun

a quantity of no importance; thing (object:), singular, negative pronoun; pronoun, thing, singular; quantifier: negative existential “I didn't hear zilch about it”

CIPHER 6 letters · noun

a quantity of no importance; thing (object:), singular, negative pronoun; pronoun, thing, singular; quantifier: negative existential

EMPTINESS 9 letters · noun

the state of containing nothing

Telling them apart

With 4 squares, ZERO, NULL, NADA, JUST, ONLY and DUCK all fit. The fourth letter tells them all apart: O → ZERO · L → NULL · A → NADA · T → JUST · Y → ONLY · K → DUCK. Fill in that crossing answer first.

With 3 squares, ZIP, NIL, NIX and BUT all fit. The third letter tells them all apart: P → ZIP · L → NIL · X → NIX · T → BUT. Fill in that crossing answer first.

With 6 squares, CIPHER, NAUGHT, CYPHER, SIMPLY and MERELY all fit. The first letter settles most of it: C → CIPHER, CYPHER · N → NAUGHT · S → SIMPLY · M → MERELY. Fill in that crossing answer first.

Other forms of this clue

Clues often use another form of the word, and the answer then takes the same form: “nothings” wants an answer that ends the same way.

What “nothing” means

• noun: a quantity of no importance; thing (object:), singular, negative pronoun; pronoun, thing, singular; quantifier: negative existential (“it looked like nothing I had ever seen before”)
• adverb: in no respect; to no degree (“he looks nothing like his father”)

A clue usually points at one of these senses, so the right answer is the one that matches the sense the puzzle means: check it against the crossing words.

About these answers

We match the clue against our own thesaurus and dictionary (Open English WordNet): words that mean the same as NOTHING, and words whose definition is NOTHING. We don't copy answers from newspaper puzzles, so a clue that leans on trivia or wordplay may need the crossing letters instead.