lacking

[lak-ing]

preposition

1. being without; not having; wanting; less.

   Lacking equipment, the laboratory couldn't undertake the research project.

adjective

1. wanting; deficient.

   He was found lacking in stamina.

Word History and Origins

Origin of lacking¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; lack + -ing ²

Example Sentences

"And once on site, they must travel on foot, even lacking fuel for vehicles."

Read more on Barron's

If there’s one thing “Wicked: For Good” is lacking, it’s depth — of color, of emotion, of writing and of those beloved characters.

Read more on Salon

When Lincoln Riley first landed in Los Angeles, his audacious plan to remake a lacking USC roster on the fly revolved almost entirely around the transfer portal.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

It’s a strange idea for a movie that, while lacking such structural niceties as an obvious goal to be met, proves an oddly touching experience, somber yet slightly absurd.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Experiments showed that mice lacking CD47 had slower tumor growth, suggesting the exhaustion effect came from CD47 on immune cells rather than on cancer cells.

Read more on Science Daily

Related Words

• flawed 
• inadequate 
• incomplete