lack

American  

[lak] / læk /

noun

1. an absence or inadequate amount of something needed, desirable, or customary.

   We had to severely limit our holiday gift shopping due to lack of funds.

   Lack of skill is the main reason he didn’t get the job.

   Synonyms:

   need, want, insufficiency, deficit, paucity, scarcity, dearth

   Antonyms:

   surplus

2. something missing or needed.

   After he left, they really felt the lack.

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verb (used with object)

• lacks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• lacked,
  past participle,  past
• lacking
  present participle

1. to be without or deficient in.

   She wants to become an actor, but unfortunately she lacks ability.

   Many of the villagers lacked even the basic necessities of life.

   Synonyms:

   need, want

2. to fall short of a target or requirement by (a particular amount).

   He lacks three votes to win.

verb (used without object)

• lacks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• lacked,
  past participle,  past
• lacking
  present participle

1. to be absent or missing, as something needed or desirable.

   Three votes are lacking to make a majority.

verb phrase

1. lack in to be short of or deficient in.

   What he lacks in brains, he makes up for in brawn.

lack British  

/ læk /

noun

1. an insufficiency, shortage, or absence of something required or desired

2. something that is required but is absent or in short supply

---

verb

1. to be deficient (in) or have need (of)

   to lack purpose

Usage

What are other ways to say lack? To lack something is to be without or deficient in it. How does lack compare to synonyms want, need, and require? Find out on Thesaurus.com. 

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• lacking
  present
• lacked
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• lack
  simple
• lacks
  simple
• have lacked
  perfect
• has lacked
  perfect
• am lacking
  progressive
• are lacking
  progressive
• is lacking
  progressive
• have been lacking
  perfect progressive
• has been lacking
  perfect progressive

Past

• lacked
  simple
• had lacked
  perfect
• was lacking
  progressive
• were lacking
  progressive
• had been lacking
  perfect progressive

Future

• will lack
  simple
• will have lacked
  perfect
• will be lacking
  progressive
• will have been lacking
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of lack

First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English lak; cognate with Middle Low German lak, Middle Dutch lac “deficiency”; akin to Old Norse lakr “deficient”

Explanation

If you lack something, you need or want something that's missing. When there's a lack of food, people starve. There are a lot of things lacking in the world. If you have no video games, then you're lacking them. People who are thirsty and starving lack food and water. Many people lack money and health care. A lack of something is the opposite of an abundance of something. If you have plenty of books, then you don't lack them — though you may lack enough time to read them all.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lack lacks lacked lacking

“We don’t comment on the existence, or lack thereof, of investigations,” a Justice Department spokeswoman said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

Fear on both sides can create a distance and lack of understanding, he warned, with longer absences making it much more likely a worker will drop out of the labour force altogether.

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

There is no shortage of articles, books, and social content aimed at curbing what is framed as a lack of discipline, often with a focus on self-help or weight management.

From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2026

Gulf Coast due to a lack of adequate storage capacity.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026

“You have a lot of nerve criticizing my lack of ambition when my flexibility is the only reason the kids have rides to their activities and dinner on their plates every night,” she hissed.

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

The breakthrough established MAL as a human blood group system and gave doctors a new way to identify the exceptionally rare people whose blood lacks the AnWj antigen.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026

NPR described the outcome as a striking rejection of the FDA’s stance, pointing out that every one of these compounds lacks the large, well-controlled clinical trials required to prove safety and effectiveness in humans.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026

What is different from traditional automation isn’t that the machine lacks accountability, but that it can now make choices that look increasingly like those made by an accountable person.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

He added that if at any time a leader of an AI company lacks confidence in their product they should choose to not release it.

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026

It lacks the severe ecological barriers transecting the major axes of the Americas and Africa.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Prosecutors argued for 20 years in prison, saying Weinstein lacked remorse.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

Scientists therefore lacked a direct way to determine the original balance between chondrules and matrix in those earliest objects.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026

Hershey has faced similar litigation over other seasonal Reese’s candies, including ghost-shaped chocolates without depicted facial features and football-shaped candies that lacked the laces shown on their packaging.

From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026

An official inquiry into a Pakistan hospital fire that killed 14 babies last month has found the neonatal unit lacked fire alarms and sprinklers, while firefighters reported that escape routes were "locked or obstructed".

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026

What he lacked was the real-world information that could fill in the gaps of the puzzle he was assembling.

From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau

But Amanda Seyfried’s Karen, a creative-writing teacher of convicts in Oklahoma, is nonetheless drawn to this man, someone who pays her the attention she is otherwise lacking.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026

He might find them, but his team is lacking ideas, conviction, composure, physical and psychological heft, creativity, ruthlessness and stomach for a fight.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

The announcement marked a new stage in the major powers' rush for military space capabilities, driven by rapid technological advancements but lacking a comprehensive legal framework.

From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026

They found that the bot sounded more extroverted than Richard, but that it was lacking in his humor.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026

He stared back, but his look was hollow, lacking any of his usual spark.

From "The Rock and the River" by Kekla Magoon

Related Words

• absence
• dearth
• inadequacy
• loss
• paucity
• poverty
• reduction
• scarcity
• shortage
• shortcoming
• shortfall