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View synonyms for deficient

deficient

[ dih-fish-uhnt ]

adjective

  1. lacking some element or characteristic; defective:

    deficient in taste.

  2. insufficient; inadequate:

    deficient knowledge.



noun

  1. a person who is deficient, especially one who is mentally defective.

deficient

/ dɪˈfɪʃənt /

adjective

  1. lacking some essential; incomplete; defective
  2. inadequate in quantity or supply; insufficient
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Derived Forms

  • deˈficiently, adverb
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Other Words From

  • de·ficient·ly adverb
  • nonde·ficient adjective
  • nonde·ficient·ly adverb
  • prede·ficient adjective
  • prede·ficient·ly adverb
  • unde·ficient adjective
  • unde·ficient·ly adverb
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Word History and Origins

Origin of deficient1

First recorded in 1575–85; from Latin dēficient-, stem of dēficiēns “failing,” present participle of dēficere “to fail, run short, lack, weaken,” from dē- de- + ficere, combining form of facere “to do, make” ( do 1 )
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Word History and Origins

Origin of deficient1

C16: from Latin dēficiēns lacking, from dēficere to fall short; see defect
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Example Sentences

It’s a problem compounded by the Marshals Service’s deficient coronavirus tracking and testing.

Similarly, a peer-reviewed observational study in Italy looking back at a small group of patients who were hospitalized with acute respiratory failure due to covid-19 found that 81 percent were vitamin D deficient.

However mistletoes get by with their deficient mitochondria, the big unanswered question is why these plants did away with something so seemingly useful.

Schwarber and Rosario could be viewed as deficient in the field.

Given what’s already known, zinc could possibly decrease the duration of infection but not the severity of symptoms, she said, particularly among people who are deficient.

Spring is starting to arrive, and we plan to soak up as much sun as our vitamin-D-deficient bodies can handle.

The same goes for the elliptical machine hunger strike, which also comes off as tonally deficient, to say the least.

Vitamin D3—Most of you reading this are probably vitamin D deficient if you wear clothes and work indoors.

The U.S. got slaughtered: 57 percent of our kids were “totally deficient” compared to just 8.3 percent of the Europeans.

One in nine is rated structurally deficient, meaning major repairs or replacement are needed—yesterday.

(b) Diseases of the stomach associated with deficient hydrochloric acid, as chronic gastritis and gastric cancer.

Napoleon himself arrived at Wrzburg on October 2nd, and found his army concentrated, but deficient of supplies.

Remnants of food from previous meals indicate deficient gastric motility.

Excess of any of these structures may result from excessive ingestion or deficient intestinal digestion.

Putty-colored or "acholic" stools occur when bile is deficient, either from obstruction to outflow or from deficient secretion.

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deficiency judgmentdeficient number