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:
The result: A shortage of housing, water and energy—and inevitably higher prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
The researchers also examined whether German scientists could have avoided the heavy water shortage by using graphite, a form of carbon that can also slow neutrons in nuclear reactors.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
However, Raman has criticized the plan, saying short-term rentals contribute to L.A.’s housing shortage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
The Bank of Spain estimates the country faces a housing shortage of 700,000 homes.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
Incredibly, at this critical juncture in financial history, after which so much changed so quickly, the only constraint in the subprime mortgage market was a shortage of people willing to bet against it.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Rather than standing on the verge of a functioning nuclear reactor, the German scientists faced shortages they could not overcome with the resources available to them.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
Beyond staff shortages, teachers and pupils must also contend with crumbling school buildings, which a 2023 Senate report estimated would require billions of euros to renovate and adapt to a changing climate.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
While supply shortages have driven memory prices higher, these favorable conditions may not last.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
The cost of memory and storage chips inside iPhones, Macs and iPads has skyrocketed as demand for those chips from data centers has led to shortages.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
When natural disasters had caused food shortages, Chairman Mao had urged us all to produce food.
From "Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution" by Ji-li Jiang
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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.
