lack

[lak] / læk /

NOUN

deficiency, need

Synonyms

STRONGEST

absence dearth inadequacy loss paucity poverty reduction scarcity shortage shortcoming shortfall

STRONG

abridgement curtailment decrease default defect deficit depletion deprivation destitution distress exigency exiguity inferiority insufficiency meagerness miss necessity privation retrenchment scantiness shortness shrinkage shrinking slightness stint want

WEAK

insufficience

Antonyms

STRONGEST

abundance affluence enough excess plenty success sufficiency

STRONG

addition advantage enlargement expansion increase perfection

WEAK

extra lot plethora profusion surplus

VERB

do not have

Synonyms

STRONGEST

need require want

STRONG

minus miss out

WEAK

be deficient in be short of be without have need of hurting for not got too little too late

Antonyms

STRONGEST

dislike have

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.

Iran is known to have been dismayed by the lack of progress in last year's talks, with Witkoff understood to have often attended without experts on what is a highly technical matter.

From BBC

Kevin Durant this week bristled at constant complaints at the lack of All-Star Game efforts by veteran US stars, urging a reporter to "ask the Europeans and the World Team if they want to compete."

From Barron's

Speaking to a city committee on cultural affairs in February, Jacoboni complained about a "lack of work due to the rising cost of production in the city."

From Barron's

And that brings us to another issue - the lack of a plan B if the line crumbles again.

From BBC

But the lack of compelling performances renders this complex tragedy, and its conflicted central character, frustratingly flat and stubbornly unengaging.

From The Wall Street Journal

lack

Usage

Example Sentences

Related Words