From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishring hollowring hollowUNTRUEif something that someone says rings hollow, you do not feel that it is true or sincere Assurances that things have changed ring hollow in many ears. → ring
Examples from the Corpus
ring hollow• His assurances that things will change rang hollow.• Apart from a bit of woodworm, the beam seemed solid enough, but the panel rang hollow.• But its claim to have performed better than the Communist party did in 1950 rings hollow.• Summerchild taps on the hardboard divisions to demonstrate their solidity and stops at once when they ring hollow.• The Republicans put on an intimidating show, as they always intended, but it somehow rang hollow.• These arguments ring hollow because they misunderstand the mode of responsibility in question.• But once the events began, his image rang hollow for some.• Such events will ring hollow if they are not markers for some-thing larger and deeper that is going on in the school.• Their footsteps rang hollow in the register office like a bad comic going off stage. 