noun
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Origin of shortage
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How does shortage compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A shortage is a lack of something, especially a severe lack. A drought is a shortage of water. When there's a shortage, there's not enough of something. If you don't have enough money to pay your bills, you have a shortage of money. A bad football team may have a shortage of good players. This kind of shortage is like a deficit or shortfall. A shortage can also be a severe dearth of something, like a famine, which is a lack of food. If there's a drought because of little rainfall, that's a serious shortage.
Vocabulary lists containing shortage
World War I
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World War II
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Paltry Parlance: Synonyms for "Few"
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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.
See Examples For:
It cautioned of "a shortage of food supplies and soaring prices, making access to even a single daily meal a dream".
From Barron's ● Nov. 5, 2026
There’s no shortage of fun to be had with multiple game rooms, a racquetball court, a casino room, a billiard room, and even a lavish nightclub.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 4, 2026
The problems go beyond a shortage of public trash cans, Mendoza said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026
They also warned it could worsen the UK's skills shortage, particularly in the care sector.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026
“Never a shortage of that to hand out,” Kaz said as they reached the top floor.
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
City Controller Kenneth Mejia said, because of its decentralized approach to homelessness, budget structure, staffing shortages and long approval delays for affordable housing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026
This depends on a mix of "pipeline imports, storage facilities, LNG imports, infrastructure and demand," a spokeswoman told AFP, adding that the agency considered the risks of shortages to be low.
From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026
The AI boom has created shortages and rising prices for several critical products.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026
Residents trapped there were suffering severe shortages of food, water and electricity, with many resorting to cooking garden weeds to survive.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
It was not food shortages that caused most of history’s wars and revolutions.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
