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
Berlin, to me, for lack of a better word, is just a cool festival.
—
Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 11 Feb. 2026
The case was dismissed for lack of probable cause this past Friday.
—Adam Harrington, CBS News, 11 Feb. 2026
The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services notified 27 hospitals from June 2022 to May 2025 that they would be fined for lack of compliance with the rules.
—Darius Tahir, NPR, 10 Feb. 2026
But that is where a team with arguably the most forward-facing executive in the NBA, if not in all of sports, had to be forward facing, with a media session with the same type of clarity as all those times after landing, for lack of better phrasing, a whale.
—Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 7 Feb. 2026
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Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 11 Feb. 2026
The case was dismissed for lack of probable cause this past Friday.
—Adam Harrington, CBS News, 11 Feb. 2026
The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services notified 27 hospitals from June 2022 to May 2025 that they would be fined for lack of compliance with the rules.
—Darius Tahir, NPR, 10 Feb. 2026
But that is where a team with arguably the most forward-facing executive in the NBA, if not in all of sports, had to be forward facing, with a media session with the same type of clarity as all those times after landing, for lack of better phrasing, a whale.
—Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 7 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for for lack of
Cite this Entry
“For lack of.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/for%20lack%20of. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
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