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.

Also that year, Sodais said, he won a $15,000 legal judgment against Mission Essential over lack of medical care after the explosive device blast more than a decade earlier.

From Los Angeles Times

H said he was concerned by the government's "lack of empathy" and "lack of listening" but that it is "good that they've done this now".

From BBC

As millions of people turned to the medications to lose weight, physicians and researchers started to hear that the lack of desire to overeat extended to drinking.

From MarketWatch

With fullbacks holding the width instead of wingers, Liverpool lack one versus one quality out wide.

From BBC

It can be even more challenging if a family lacks the resources to pay for the luxury of home health aides and assorted helpers.

From MarketWatch

lack

Usage

Example Sentences

Related Words