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Definitions

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.

See Examples For:

And a pilot by the Street Vendor Project nonprofit deployed similar batteries to food trucks, but a lack of charging infrastructure proved an issue.

From Barron's Jul. 25, 2026

But that, she says, comes from a lack of understanding over what can be an "internal and invisible" struggle.

From BBC Jul. 24, 2026

They cited the limited clinical studies and a lack of evidence indicating their effectiveness.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 24, 2026

Thousands of other users posted their thoughts online about this poll question, with some lamenting the respondents’ lack of understanding of probability.

From MarketWatch Jul. 24, 2026

How I regretted now my own lack of taste in clothes.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

The deal also lacks specific provisions for international inspections, something the country reportedly insisted on.

From Slate Jul. 23, 2026

Because the Moon lacks a thick atmosphere and a global magnetic field, these particles strike its surface directly.

From Science Daily Jul. 21, 2026

The ship lacks the usual clanging metal rigging of a modern sailboat, so the two-hour, $80 journey was nearly silent.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 15, 2026

If you think his millennial lingo is a sign that he lacks judgment in other areas, you can tell him that “you guyses” are splitting up with him.

From MarketWatch Jul. 14, 2026

"True enough," Ser Brynden said, "yet there is one thing Ser Jaime lacks."

From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin

However, scientists lacked enough comparative material and anatomical research to determine exactly what kind of giant salamander the bones represented.

From Science Daily Jul. 24, 2026

The New York Times reported that the new plane lacked the same security countermeasures, including anti-missile defenses.

From Barron's Jul. 20, 2026

While Zhu would grow GigaDevice into a highly successful publicly traded chip designer in the years that followed, the company lacked the capital and expertise to become a memory juggernaut.

From MarketWatch Jul. 18, 2026

The county rejected the plan, saying it lacked specificity and necessitates “an elevated level of fiscal oversight.”

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 17, 2026

Narewka lacked most of what we consider necessities today.

From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson

In many remote places lacking accessible stores, Russians depend on them for much of their shopping, from clothes to household appliances.

From BBC Jul. 22, 2026

Barker’s screenplay is sorely lacking the imagination and ambition needed to stake its place among the true classics, horror or otherwise.

From Salon Jul. 22, 2026

Official statistics are lacking, but media in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have reported an increasing number of victims.

From Barron's Jul. 17, 2026

However, animals lacking those neurons, or in which the neurons had been switched off, showed a dramatic reduction in scratching behavior.

From Science Daily Jul. 14, 2026

In order to have a Copernicanism with spheres there needs to be an account of how the Earth/moon system is attached to a sphere, which is noticeably lacking.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton




Vocabulary lists containing lack


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