Synonyms of lacking

lacking 1 of 2

adjective

1

as in insufficient

not coming up to an expected measure or meeting a particular need

we felt the afternoon television offerings were somewhat lacking in entertainment value

Synonyms & Similar Words

• insufficient
• scarce
• inadequate
• low
• deficient
• short
• wanting
• unacceptable
• sparse
• shy
• unsatisfactory
• poor
• substandard
• scant
• small
• meager
• scanty
• skimpy
• spare
• lean
• light
• minimum
• mere
• slender
• stingy
• bare
• slim
• skimp
• slight
• hand-to-mouth

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• adequate
• sufficient
• enough
• abundant
• ample
• plentiful
• generous
• liberal
• copious
• bountiful
• plenteous
• enlarged
• bounteous
• satisfactory
• supplemented
• expanded
• overflowing
• tolerable
• large
• rich
• considerable
• substantial
• plenitudinous
• lavish
• teeming
• super
• big
• sizable
• abounding
• luxuriant
• hefty
• oversize
• jumbo
• largish
• king-size

2

as in absent

not present or in evidence

for the moment anyway, wood for the fireplace is lacking

Synonyms & Similar Words

• absent
• missing
• nonexistent
• lost
• extinct
• wanting
• vanished
• inadequate
• insufficient
• sparse
• done
• obsolete
• departed
• scarce
• over
• expired
• defunct
• finished
• uncommon
• rare
• perished
• dead
• lapsed
• passé

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• present
• existent
• active
• alive
• current
• living
• thriving
• common
• prevalent
• prevailing
• going
• apparent
• evident
• obvious
• conspicuous
• plain
• animate
• uncanceled

lacking

2 of 2

verb

present participle of lack

as in begging

Related Words

• begging
• hurting (for)
• asking
• insisting
• crying (for)
• involving
• requiring
• needing
• clamoring (for)
• pressing
• commanding
• enjoining
• exacting
• wanting
• demanding
• necessitating
• challenging
• stipulating
• claiming
• entailing
• questing
• warranting
• taking
• bearing

Dissimilar Words

• having
• holding
• possessing
• owning

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of lacking

Adjective

Where to Stay Ely hosts a handful of hotels and motels within town limits, but true luxury accommodations are somewhat lacking. — Stephanie Vermillion, Travel + Leisure, 18 Aug. 2026

Which is to say quality constraints on what Paramount could conceivably dump into theaters are totally lacking. — Chris Lee, Vulture, 13 Aug. 2026

So a resistance surveillance network across places where this is lacking, such as northwestern Nigeria, would bring a huge return on investment. — Christine Ro, Forbes.com, 23 July 2026

Despite severely lacking resources, the monuments men and women were able to find and retrieve more than five million items, many of them artworks that had been stolen by the Axis forces. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 July 2026

Rival broadcasters Channel 4 and Channel 5 — both reliant on advertising revenue and lacking Sky’s pay-TV cushion — are expected to raise competition concerns. — Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 8 July 2026

Shuffling the opposition across to make space for a switch to the far side is a viable method of attack, but that can then come at the cost of a central box presence, with Portugal lacking runners beyond the ball. — Mark Carey, New York Times, 2 July 2026

An honest review would tell you the coordination was a little lacking in this particular bit of maritime cosplay. — Ben Church, CNN Money, 23 June 2026

While sports governing bodies such as FIFA and the International Olympic Committee have come to recognize that press freedom is an essential part of their commitments to uphold human rights, results are vastly lacking. — Gypsy Guillén Kaiser, Fortune, 23 June 2026