Five Hard Words Play today

Tier three of five

How to spell vacuum

What it means

a space containing nothing

How it sounds

/ˈvækjum/

Why it catches people out

From the Latin vacuus, which carries the same double u.

The spellings people reach for

In a sentence

The decision was not made in a vacuum.

First appeared in

Puzzle #83 — October 15, 2026