deficiency

Obsolete, deficience

[dih-fish-uhn-see]

noun

plural

deficiencies 

1. the state of being deficient; lack; incompleteness; insufficiency.

   Synonyms: scarcity, paucity, inadequacy, shortage

2. the amount lacked; a deficit.

deficiency

/ dɪˈfɪʃənsɪ /

noun

1. the state or quality of being deficient

2. a lack or insufficiency; shortage

3. another word for deficit

4. biology the absence of a gene or a region of a chromosome normally present

Other Word Forms

• nondeficiency noun
• predeficiency noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of deficiency¹

First recorded in 1625–35; from Late Latin dēficientia, Latin dēficient- (stem of dēficiēns ); deficient, -ency

Example Sentences

The unit’s adjusted operating income of $314 million in the third quarter was a turnaround from the $924 million loss a year earlier, which included the cost of setting up a premium deficiency reserve.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The average woman needs around 46 grams of protein to prevent a deficiency, and the average man needs 56 grams, she said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Despite these deficiencies, AI assistants are increasingly being used to get information, particularly by young people.

Read more on Barron's

The Thorntons spray the trees frequently to treat an endemic calcium deficiency.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"It's a pump that will pulse in both sides, to create beating in both chambers, and allow people currently waiting for a transplant, people with terminal heart deficiencies, to keep on living."

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• dearth 
• defect 
• failing 
• failure 
• fault 
• flaw 
• frailty 
• glitch 
• insufficiency 
• lack 
• scarcity 
• shortage 
• shortcoming 
• weakness