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.

Quintero, who lacked the funds to finish college, struggles as a freelance audiovisual producer.

From Los Angeles Times

They lacked shape, going left and right without making any progress - like a boxer on the ropes punching for their life but not actually hitting anything.

From BBC

Which is precisely what the Games had lacked for so long.

From The Wall Street Journal

“Find a person who embodies all of the outward traits of personality, bearing, charisma, language, and power lacking in yourself,” Newsom described the philosophy in the book.

From Los Angeles Times

The plan to shoot in Greece was scuppered by a lack of funding.

From Barron's

lack

Usage

Example Sentences

Related Words