deficiency

play

noun de·fi·cien·cy \ di-ˈfi-shən-sē \

Definition of deficiency

plural deficiencies

1 :the quality or state of being defective or of lacking some necessary quality or element :the quality or state of being deficient :inadequacy

suffers from a deficiency of critical thinking

2 :an amount that is lacking or inadequate :shortage

staffing deficiencies

: such as

a :a shortage of substances necessary to health

a vitamin C deficiency

hormone deficiencies

b genetics :deletion 2b(1)

See deficiency defined for English-language learners

See deficiency defined for kids

Examples of deficiency in a Sentence

The disease may be caused by nutritional deficiencies.
The book's major deficiency is its poor plot.
a deficiency of vitamin C
There are several deficiencies in his plan.
The accident was caused by deficiencies in the engine.

Recent Examples of deficiency from the Web

As my colleague David Graham explained this week, Ike just missed Houston, but got close enough to expose deficiencies in the city’s capacity to withstand serious natural disasters.

— marina koren, The Atlantic, "‘The Rainfall Threat Is Only Beginning’," 26 Aug. 2017
Meanwhile the Bevin administration this year took aim at EMW, seeking to revoke its license over alleged deficiencies in its transfer agreement with physicians at U of L Hospital.

— deborah yetter, The Courier-Journal, "U of L Hospital board could clear path for Planned Parenthood to offer abortions," 22 Aug. 2017
In that game, Hurts' deficiencies were revealed in front of a national audience.

— michael casagrande, AL.com, "Alabama No. 1 in preseason poll," 3 Aug. 2017
Bill Helton, chief executive officer of Green Frog Environmental LLC, the firm hired by Seven Peaks to correct the problems at the park, led the recent tour, which produced 10 pages of deficiencies at the park.

— amy lavalley, Post-Tribune, "'Water parks are complicated': Porter says it might need to outsource inspections at Seven Peaks," 28 July 2017
SOEs are getting bigger, not smaller; their management has become more conservative; and their deficiencies are beginning to infect the economy more widely.

— The Economist, "Reform of China’s ailing state-owned firms is emboldening them," 20 July 2017
The U.S. military hasn’t been able to solve the oxygen deficiency problem plaguing some of its jets, so a U.S. senator from Mississippi wants to dangle a $10 million prize in an open competition. ‘

— jeanette steele, sandiegouniontribune.com, "$10M may go to the engineer who can solve the Navy's hypoxia problem," 12 July 2017
This timeline traces the long and troubled history of safety deficiencies at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Plutonium Facility by detailing the timing of some 40 government reports and expert presentations spanning the past 11 years.

— r. jeffrey smith, Science | AAAS, "Safety problems at a Los Alamos laboratory," 30 June 2017
In 2013, Kaiser agreed to pay a $4 million fine for several deficiencies in the plan’s delivery of mental health services — one of the largest ever paid by an insurer in the state.

— jenny gold, Kaiser Health News, "Kaiser Permanente Cited — Again — For Mental Health Access Problems," 30 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'deficiency.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of deficiency

see ¹deficient

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1603

See Words from the same year

deficiency Synonyms

Synonyms

crunch, dearth, deficit, drought (also drouth), failure, famine, inadequacy, inadequateness, insufficiency, lack, lacuna, paucity, pinch, poverty, scantiness, scarceness, scarcity, shortage, undersupply, want

Antonyms

abundance, adequacy, amplitude, opulence, plenitude, plenty, sufficiency, wealth

Related Words

absence, omission; meagerness, poorness, skimpiness; necessity, need, privation

Near Antonyms

bountifulness, copiousness; excess, overabundance, oversupply, surfeit, surplus

DEFICIENCY Defined for English Language Learners

deficiency

play

noun

Definition of deficiency for English Language Learners

: a lack of something that is needed : the state of not having enough of something necessary
: a problem in the way something is made or formed

DEFICIENCY Defined for Kids

deficiency

play

noun de·fi·cien·cy \ di-ˈfi-shən-sē \

Definition of deficiency for Students

plural deficiencies

:the condition of being without something necessary and especially something required for health

a vitamin deficiency

Medical Dictionary

deficiency

play

noun de·fi·cien·cy \ di-ˈfish-ən-sē \

medical Definition of deficiency

plural deficiencies

1 :a shortage of substances (as vitamins) necessary to health

2 :deletion

Law Dictionary

deficiency

play

noun de·fi·cien·cy \ di-ˈfi-shən-sē \

legal Definition of deficiency

plural deficiencies

:an amount that is lacking or inadequate: as

a :the difference between the amount of tax owed and the amount of tax paid

b :the difference between the amount owed under a security agreement and the amount the creditor is able to recover upon default of the debtor by selling the collateral