noun
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Etymology
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:
"Things that were in supermarkets and seen as relatively abundant may all of a sudden be in shortage," he adds.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
Not because the town suffered from an acute shortage of organic kale, exactly.
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026
However, Yunus's former top health ministry official had denied any shortage of vaccines.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
"We need immigration to soften enough that housing has a chance to catch up," he said, while stressing the housing shortage was not caused by migrants.
From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026
The few teachers the town did have were not exactly the pick of the litter, as Dad liked to say, and despite the shortage, one would get fired from time to time.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
“At a time when California faces significant healthcare workforce shortages, affordable pathways to a bachelor of science in nursing are especially important in rural and underserved communities.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
With so many Palestinians left homeless, and major shortages of construction materials, many Gaza residents have taken the risk of moving into the shaky buildings.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
Still, some European producers have continued to benefit from companies bringing forward orders to get ahead of potentially higher prices and supply shortages.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
Previous estimates have painted a dire picture of the US shortages.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
Virtually everyone supplying goods and services to the city had raised their rates, explaining that shortages of items and the general danger forced up their costs.
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
Definitions 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.
