as in shortages
a falling short of an essential or desirable amount or number
the lack of eligible candidates for the jury kept the trial from getting started
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of lacks
Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 7 June 2026
The Drive The turbo engine gives it the push the standard engine lacks, especially when merging, climbing grades or passing.
—Josh Max, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026
Ford’s freedom or constraints, his prejudices or lacks, gauge his moment and ours.
—Literary Hub, 30 Apr. 2026
Dipping into 2027 draft capital to make a fifth-round selection in a draft that Schneider has repeatedly said lacks depth is a surprising move.
—Michael-Shawn Dugar, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2026
Industrial composting sites—big, regionalized facilities that can churn out large volumes of organic waste—are designed to speed up the composting process using heat, moisture, and carbon control, things that a simple countertop compost container lacks.
—Francesca Krempa, Bon Appetit Magazine, 23 Apr. 2026
Cinch doesn't have many add-on options available, which means customization lacks.
—Caroline Ernst, USA Today, 9 Apr. 2026
As of Wednesday, firearms dealers are required under state law to use scanners that pull the prospective purchaser’s name, date of birth and other details from the card’s magnetic strip, which the new design lacks — except if they are authorized otherwise.
—Madison Smalstig, Sacbee.com, 25 Feb. 2026
Each provides amino acids that the other lacks, so eating them together gives you all the essential amino acids.
—Merve Ceylan, Health, 27 Jan. 2026
Noun
What Hafley’s team lacks are proven, established names; productivity that can be relied on if healthy.
—Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 7 June 2026
The Drive The turbo engine gives it the push the standard engine lacks, especially when merging, climbing grades or passing.
—Josh Max, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026
Ford’s freedom or constraints, his prejudices or lacks, gauge his moment and ours.
—Literary Hub, 30 Apr. 2026
Dipping into 2027 draft capital to make a fifth-round selection in a draft that Schneider has repeatedly said lacks depth is a surprising move.
—Michael-Shawn Dugar, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2026
Industrial composting sites—big, regionalized facilities that can churn out large volumes of organic waste—are designed to speed up the composting process using heat, moisture, and carbon control, things that a simple countertop compost container lacks.
—Francesca Krempa, Bon Appetit Magazine, 23 Apr. 2026
Cinch doesn't have many add-on options available, which means customization lacks.
—Caroline Ernst, USA Today, 9 Apr. 2026
As of Wednesday, firearms dealers are required under state law to use scanners that pull the prospective purchaser’s name, date of birth and other details from the card’s magnetic strip, which the new design lacks — except if they are authorized otherwise.
—Madison Smalstig, Sacbee.com, 25 Feb. 2026
Each provides amino acids that the other lacks, so eating them together gives you all the essential amino acids.
—Merve Ceylan, Health, 27 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lacks
Noun
-
The population, already battered by decades of economic crises and shortages, is now navigating daily blackouts that can last up to 20 hours in some parts of the island.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
8 June 2026
-
Analyst Wamsi Mohan foresees pricing power for the company to remain strong, as memory shortages due to high demand from the AI buildout linger.—
Davis Giangiulio,
CNBC,
8 June 2026
Verb
-
Lind insists her parents did not help the casting effort, as the couple had misgivings about their kids following them in the business.—
Bryan Alexander,
USA Today,
29 May 2026
-
And then there’s the prim and unfriendly Stagg, who doesn’t play well with others, who insists on having the office to himself, and who refuses to let the affable Krick be a part of his reports to Ike and the rest of the generals.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
29 May 2026
Noun
-
Also, legislation to diagnose and treat deficiencies in math is moving in the Capitol.—
Dan Walters,
Mercury News,
27 May 2026
-
One of his therapists had eventually explained to us that Charley used his ridiculous memory to compensate for his phonetic deficiencies.—
Chris Jones,
The Atlantic,
26 May 2026
Verb
-
Mercury’s clash with Neptune begs you to hold off on signing on the dotted line.—
USA TODAY,
USA Today,
3 June 2026
-
While Huang may be doing his best to share Nvidia’s profits with its employees, the much wider picture begs the question of how massive investments into AI might reinforce existing wealth inequality.—
Eleanor Pringle,
Fortune,
2 June 2026
Verb
-
The catch is that all of this requires an iPhone 15 Pro or newer, specifically an A17 Pro chip and 8GB of RAM.—
Janhoi McGregor,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2026
-
In fact, keeping denim looking its best requires not washing them very often at all.—
Melissa Locker,
Southern Living,
6 June 2026
Verb
-
The quality adjustment problem does not reside in nominal GDP, which simply asks what was spent, earned, or produced in current dollars, but rather in the deflator applied to convert those nominal figures into real terms.—
James Broughel,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2026
-
Marlon asks, pointing to an artificial division between the Wayans' sketch comedy series, In Living Color, and Thompson's longtime home, Saturday Night Live.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
6 June 2026
Verb
-
Ali then exacts his revenge, pumping several rounds into Alamo's chest as the antagonistic figure falls for good.—
Joey Nolfi,
Entertainment Weekly,
1 June 2026
-
Shrinking lake ice exacts its price Depending on how much greenhouse gases warm the planet in the coming years, the average lake could lose up to 10 to 28 days of ice cover by the end of the century, says Sapna Sharma, a global change biologist at York University in Canada.—
Berly McCoy,
NPR,
2 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Preparing your home for summer often involves changing bedding and window treatments or setting up fans and air conditioning units.—
BestReviews,
Chicago Tribune,
8 June 2026
-
Meal timing and the gut In the new research, the authors defined chronic physiological stress by participants’ composite allostatic load score — which involves eight cardiovascular, metabolic and inflammatory biomarkers, such as blood pressure, cholesterol and body mass index.—
Kristen Rogers,
CNN Money,
8 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Lacks.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lacks. Accessed 11 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
