Thesaurus.com
Dictionary.com

found wanting

ADJECTIVE
culpable
Synonyms
STRONGEST
guilty impeachable liable reprehensible responsible
WEAK
amiss answerable at fault blamable blameful blameworthy caught caught in the act caught red-handed censurable demeritorious dirty hung up in the wrong indictable off base out of line punishable sinful smoking gun to blame unholy wrong
Antonyms
STRONGEST
immune irresponsible
WEAK
blameless inculpable innocent not guilty right
ADJECTIVE
deficient
Synonyms
STRONGEST
defective faulty flawed impaired incomplete inferior insufficient lacking scarce skimpy unsatisfactory weak
WEAK
amiss bad damaged exiguous infrequent injured marred meager not cut out for not enough not make it not up to scratch outta gas rare scant scanty second fiddle second string short shy sketchy third-string unassembled unequal unfinished wanting
Antonyms
STRONGEST
abundant adequate enough perfect strong sufficient
WEAK
ample excessive faultless flawless satisfactory superfluous
ADJECTIVE
inadequate
Synonyms
STRONGEST
deficient faulty incompetent incomplete lacking meager poor sad scarce sketchy skimpy unequal weak
WEAK
bare barren bush-league depleted dry failing feeble glitch imperfect impotent inappreciable inapt incapable incommensurate inconsiderable insubstantial junk lame lemon lousy low minus miserly not enough parsimonious scanty short shy small spare sparse sterile stinted stunted thin too little unproductive unqualified
Antonyms
STRONGEST
able abundant adequate capable complete enough full perfect potent strong sufficient
WEAK
competent
ADJECTIVE
undermanned
Synonyms
STRONGEST
shorthanded
WEAK
incomplete not enough scarce short shy too little
ADJECTIVE
unfinished
Synonyms
STRONGEST
bare incomplete unadorned undeveloped unfulfilled
WEAK
amateurish crude cut short dabbling defective deficient dilettante faulty formless fragmentary half-baked half-done immature imperfect in the making in the rough lacking natural not done plain raw rough roughhewn shapeless sketchy tentative unaccomplished unassembled uncompleted unconcluded under construction undone unexecuted unfashioned unperfected unpolished unrefined wanting
Antonyms
WEAK
completed finished polished refined whole

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.

But the BBC's response to those scandals was also found wanting.

From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026

But we can also work to build a more vibrant, more inviting and more effective democracy, rather than defending a status quo that almost everyone agrees has been found wanting.

From Salon • Dec. 7, 2024

Can — at the ripe old age of 25 — had been judged and weighed by soccer’s elite, and found wanting.

From New York Times • May 31, 2024

“Dragnet” changed the names to protect the innocent, but nowadays it’s the fashion to keep the names, while the facts, found wanting on their own, might get a fictional assist.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2024

Somewhere in fantasyland Ignatius was dreaming of a terrified Myma Minkoff being tried by a court of Taste and Decency and found wanting.

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole