Synonyms of deficit

deficit

noun

ˈde-fə-sət 

as in shortage

a falling short of an essential or desirable amount or number

a growing deficit in the number of hours devoted to sleep

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of deficit

This is the first time Argentina has trailed in the 2026 World Cup, and it’s played like it, attacking aggressively since facing the deficit. — Nbc News, NBC news, 7 July 2026

The cumulative effect of regressing academically every summer means kids are starting off every school year in a deficit, as previously mentioned. — Sherri Gordon, Parents, 7 July 2026

By reflexively framing withdrawal as resistance rather than a deficit, the expert class helped remove the mechanism that might actually have helped. — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 6 July 2026

Social Security actuaries calculate that eliminating the wage cap (without those taxes accruing additional benefits) would keep the system out of deficit for just three years and close only about half of its long-term shortfall. — Jessica Riedl, The Atlantic, 6 July 2026