for lack of

idiom

: not having (the thing specified)

They called it a comet, for lack of a better term/word.

For lack of anything better to do, we went to the park.

Examples of for lack of in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Despite advances in launch vehicles and spacecraft design, humans have not traveled beyond LEO in more than fifty years—not for lack of ambition, but because operating there means doing without the systems that make human spaceflight viable today. —Charlotte Kiang, Forbes.com, 19 Jan. 2026

The charge related to meth was later reduced and then dismissed in March 1992 for lack of evidence, shortly after a trial commenced. —Graham Womack updated January 15, Sacbee.com, 16 Jan. 2026

If Chicago failed to draw the largest crowd last weekend, that’s not for lack of trying. —Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 16 Jan. 2026

This is a moment in global history that feels, for lack of a better term, quite stupid, marked by rising populist pushback against institutions seen as elitist; serious intellectual inquiry is frequently swept into that critique. —Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 15 Jan. 2026

Rhymes for for lack of

• above
• foxglove
• hereof
• thereof
• whereof
• dove
• glove
• love
• shove
• hereinabove