lack

play

verb \ ˈlak \

Updated on: 11 Sep 2017

Definition of lack

intransitive verb

1 :to be deficient or missing

time is lacking for a full explanation

2 :to be short or have need of something

he will not lack for advisers

The area does not lack for good restaurants.

transitive verb

:to stand in need of :suffer from the absence or deficiency of

lack the necessities of life

She lacked confidence.

See lack defined for English-language learners

See lack defined for kids

Examples of lack in a Sentence

His book lacks any coherent structure.
They lack a good strategy for winning the election.
This painting lacks any artistic value.
She has never been accused of lacking confidence.
Many of these people lack the basic necessities of life.

Recent Examples of lack from the Web

A now-viral video of a woman criticizing a CNN reporter for lacking empathy in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey is eliciting some strong responses about media and the trauma Houston residents are facing.

— christina coleman, Essence.com, "Harvey Survivor Who Criticized CNN Anchor Isn't Just 'Upset,' She's Traumatized And Exhausted," 30 Aug. 2017
The proud mom is two-year-old P-53 and the suspected pops is local lion lothario P-12, who crossed into the Santa Monica Mountains from the north and who brought a new set of genes to a population seriously lacking in genetic diversity.

— marielle wakim, Los Angeles Magazine, "Two Precious Mountain Lion Kittens Have Been Found in the Santa Monica Mountains," 29 Aug. 2017
Judge Fernando Andreu also freed under similar restrictions another of the suspects Tuesday, once again for lacking proof of his involvement, and sent to jail the other two people arrested after hearing their testimony.

— Washington Post, "Spain shared info about attack cell leader with Belgium," 24 Aug. 2017
What’s still lacking is proof that the Babylonians did in fact use this table, or others like it, for solving problems in the manner suggested in the new paper, Ossendrijver says.

— ron cowen, Science | AAAS, "This ancient Babylonian tablet may contain the first evidence of trigonometry," 24 Aug. 2017
Some, however, still feel like the choice is lacking depth.

— alyssa hardy, Teen Vogue, "Bella Hadid's Vogue Arabia Cover Sparks Backlash," 15 Aug. 2017
Small babies lack in discernible personality and rarely do anything good or bad enough to make a lasting impression on your brain.

— jen gann, The Cut, "What to Do When You Forget the Name of Your Friend’s Baby," 15 Aug. 2017
Aside from Rhyne, Andrean lacks returning starters on offense in the skill positions.

— mike hutton, Post-Tribune, "Countdown to Football: Andrean ranked No. 10 in preseason by Post-Tribune," 8 Aug. 2017
But the trifecta doesn’t change a whole lot, since Justice lacks any real veto power over the legislature to begin with (overriding vetoes can be done with simple legislative majorities).

— ed kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, "West Virginia’s Marginally Democratic Governor Flips to the GOP," 3 Aug. 2017

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

Origin and Etymology of lack

see ²lack

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 12th century

See Words from the same year

lack

noun

Definition of lack

1 :the fact or state of being wanting or deficient

a lack of evidence

2 :something that is lacking or is needed

See lack defined for English-language learners

Examples of lack in a Sentence

The problem is a lack of money.
She has been suffering from a lack of sleep lately.
Her problem is lack of sleep.

Recent Examples of lack from the Web

Experts say another reason for the lack of coverage in the Houston area was that the last big storm, Tropical Storm Allison, was 16 years ago.

— Washington Post, "AP Exclusive: Flood insurance policies plunged before Harvey," 30 Aug. 2017
Which brings up another possible reason for the lack of female producers: Women don’t take as many music-engineering classes.

— joy lanzendorfer, The Atlantic, "Why Aren’t There More Women Working in Audio?," 30 Aug. 2017
To date, 62 percent of the almost 600 positions that require Senate confirmation lack a nominee.

— chicagotribune.com, "Congress needs to open a formal impeachment inquiry," 28 Aug. 2017
The advisory committees were closed down not only due to the resignations but also the lack of new recruits to replace them.

— roger showley, sandiegouniontribune.com, "CEOs and White House: An upside to leaving panels?," 25 Aug. 2017
There was no lack of power from the 5.3-liter engine, and the eight-speed automatic shifted seamlessly.

— g. chambers williams iii, star-telegram, "Chevrolet’s 2017 Silverado 1500 Z71 perfect for on- or off-road excursions," 25 Aug. 2017
As part of the committee’s most recent assessment of the United States, in 2013, the committee criticized the lack of a law banning racist hate speech.

— sewell chan and nick cumming-bruce, New York Times, "U.N. Panel Condemns Trump’s Response to Charlottesville Violence," 23 Aug. 2017
Engineers complete the surveys, and owing to a lack of staffing and resources, many existing speed surveys have essentially expired.

— susan carpenter, Los Angeles Magazine, "Inside The Audacious Plan to Eliminate Traffic Deaths in L.A.," 21 Aug. 2017
Whether by design, lack of bandwidth or the result of White House influence, dozens of critical ambassador and assistant undersecretary positions remain unfilled.

— james baker, vanityfair.com, "Is Rex Tillerson Destroying the State Department in Order to Save It?," 20 Aug. 2017

Origin and Etymology of lack

Middle English lak; akin to Middle Dutch lak lack, Old Norse lakr defective

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

lack Synonyms

Synonyms

absence, dearth, want

Antonyms

presence

Related Words

deficiency, deficit, failure, famine, inadequacy, inadequateness, insufficiency, meagerness, paucity, poverty, scantiness, scantness, scarceness, scarcity, shortage, skimpiness, undersupply; deprivation, loss, necessity, need, needfulness, omission; privation; blankness, emptiness, vacuity, vacuum, void

Near Antonyms

abundance, amplitude, bounty, plenitude, plenteousness, plentifulness, plentitude, plenty, wealth; adequacy, sufficiency; excess, overabundance, oversupply, superabundance, surfeit, surplus; deluge, flood; bushel, deal, gobs, heap, loads, lot, mass, mountain, much, oodles, peck, pile, pot, quantity, raft, reams, scads, stack, volume, wad; fund, pool, stock, supply; cache, hoard, stash, stockpile

LACK Defined for English Language Learners

lack

play

verb

Definition of lack for English Language Learners

: to not have (something) : to not have enough of (something) ( chiefly US )

lack

noun

Definition of lack for English Language Learners

: the state or condition of not having any or enough of something : the state or condition of lacking something

LACK Defined for Kids

lack

play

verb \ ˈlak \

Definition of lack for Students

lacked; lacking

1 :to be missing

Something is lacking in the soup.

2 :to need or be without something

I lack the necessary money.

lack

noun

Definition of lack for Students

:the fact or state of not having any or enough of something

a lack of time

Learn More about lack

See words that rhyme with lack Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for lack Spanish Central: Translation of lack Nglish: Translation of lack for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of lack for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about lack

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lack

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