Then he stared vacantly at his own outstretched index finger as if at some mysterious, misplaced object.

NEWYORKER: Town of Cats

When she opened the door to the office, the first thing she saw was Davis sitting all by himself in a chair, staring vacantly at a Black History Month poster of Sojourner Truth on the opposite wall.

NPR: In 'Challenger Park,' Mom Is an Astronaut

These are delivered, and sometimes disguised, with great suppleness, especially by Neill, but they work far better in rushes of wrath and dissent than in the more lyrical moods, and the whole conceit will strike you as either dazzling or vacantly precious, according to taste.

NEWYORKER: Yes