Synonyms of shortage

shortage

noun

ˈshȯr-tij 

as in lack

a falling short of an essential or desirable amount or number

there was a troubling shortage of supplies for the troops overseas this year

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of shortage

The administration has relied on expensive, long-range weapons, leading to critical shortages of drones, missiles and defense systems. — Los Angeles Times, 16 Aug. 2026

Orlando sits near the bottom among major metropolitan areas in wages while simultaneously facing one of the nation’s most serious shortages of affordable housing for its lowest-income residents. — Dan Bray, The Orlando Sentinel, 15 Aug. 2026

Throughout the early aughts, the dairy farm experienced falling prices and water shortages in the Central Valley. — Nancy Vienneau, Southern Living, 15 Aug. 2026

Trump denies that there’s a weapons shortage, and vows to hunt down whoever leaked details of the weapons shortage that definitely doesn’t exist. — Rachel Marsden, Hartford Courant, 15 Aug. 2026