vacuously

Updated: July 1, 2025

There does not seem to be any logic or sense in it; but somebody with a huge sense of humour must have once started the craze much in the way that a practical joker will stare intently at nothing in a London street until he has collected a large and inquisitive crowd, and will then steal quietly away, leaving everybody looking vacuously at the same spot.

Harold Edward Gorst - The Curse of Education