Synonyms of shortage

shortage

noun

ˈshȯr-tij 

as in lack

a falling short of an essential or desirable amount or number

there was a troubling shortage of supplies for the troops overseas this year

Synonyms & Similar Words

• lack
• deficiency
• scarcity
• deficit
• absence
• paucity
• drought
• dearth
• famine
• insufficiency
• poverty
• inadequacy
• undersupply
• crunch
• lacuna
• failure
• scantiness
• pinch
• scarceness
• inadequateness
• omission
• want
• necessity
• need
• privation
• meagerness
• skimpiness
• poorness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• abundance
• plenty
• wealth
• adequacy
• sufficiency
• amplitude
• opulence
• plenitude
• surplus
• excess
• oversupply
• overabundance
• surfeit
• copiousness
• bountifulness

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of shortage

The withdrawal casts uncertainty over programs to combat HIV and other diseases in a country where shortages often force patients to bring basic supplies such as bandages to clinics and buy their own medicines. — Farai Mutsaka, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026

The stock has ridden the soaring prices from the global memory shortage to year-to-date gains of nearly 280%. — Matthew J. Belvedere,kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 25 Sep. 2026

At the same time, behavioral health providers and therapists across the globe are battling workforce shortage, burnout and compassion fatigue. — Sameer Bhat, Forbes.com, 25 Sep. 2026

Trump needs to declare oil shortages a national emergency, Harrell said, and sign an executive order restricting diesel exports. — Eleanor Mueller, semafor.com, 25 Sep. 2026