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lack

[lak] / læk /




Usage

What are other ways to say lack? The verb lack means to be without or to have less than a desirable quantity of something: to lack courage, sufficient money, enough members to make a quorum. Need often suggests urgency, stressing the necessity of supplying what is lacking: to need an operation, better food, a match to light the fire. Require, which expresses necessity as strongly as need, occurs most frequently in serious or formal contexts: Your presence at the hearing is required. Successful experimentation requires careful attention to detail.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

SpaceX cited lack of demand at the time, according to the Space Review.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 11, 2026

“There’s a lack of resources and of will,” said Jaime Aguilar, a volunteer with Search Warriors of Jalisco, which looks for clandestine graves across the state.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 11, 2026

Tuchel was unhappy with England's lack of intensity in their opening friendly against New Zealand in Tampa, the 1-0 win effectively a glorified training session as he fielded two different teams in each half.

From BBC • Jun. 11, 2026

Unlike large language models trained on vast quantities of internet content, robots lack comparable real-world datasets.

From Barron's • Jun. 11, 2026

Now, despite my total lack of responsibilities I am an extremely busy person, and I know I shall never have time or patience to learn a new name.

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood




Vocabulary lists containing lack


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