lack
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lack¹
- /læk/ US, UK
Sounds like lakh (one pronunciation) · Rhymes with -æk
Where it comes from
From Middle English lack, lakke, lak, from Old English *læc (“deficiency, lack, want”), from Proto-West Germanic *lak, from Proto-Germanic *laką, *lakaz (“slackness”), from Proto-Germanic *lakaz (“limp, slack, loose, low”), related to *lak(k)ōną (“to blame, reproach”), from Proto-Indo-European *lok-néh₂-. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Lak (“lack”), Middle Low German lack, lak (“lack”), Dutch lak (“lack, deficiency, calumny”), Icelandic lakur (“lacking”). Related also to Middle Dutch laken (“to blame, lack”).
Eclipsed non-native Middle English carence (“absence, lack”), from Old French carence.
noun lacks
- A deficiency or need (of something desirable or necessary); an absence, want, dearth. It is a question of money, or lack of same.
- A defect or failing; moral or spiritual degeneracy. In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned.
Similar: dearth, deficiency, deficit, dejection, inadequacy, infrequency, insufficiency, meagerness, nonsufficiency, lack, paucity, penury, rareness, rarity, scantiness, scarcity, shortage, shortcoming, unsufficiency, want · Opposite: adequacy, excess
lack²
- /læk/ US, UK
Sounds like lakh (one pronunciation) · Rhymes with -æk
Where it comes from
From Middle English lacken, lakken, laken, from Old English læccian, *lacian (“to blame, criticise, lack”), from Proto-West Germanic *lak(k)ōn (“to blame, be lacking”), from Proto-Germanic *lak(k)ōną (“to reproach, blame, be lacking”), from Proto-Indo-European *lok-néh₂-. Cognate with Old Frisian lakia, lekia (“to contest, blame”), Middle Low German lacken, laken (“to reproach, blame, criticise”), Middle Dutch laken (“to disapprove, blame, lack”), Dutch laken (“to blame, reproach”).
verb lacks · lacking · lacked
- To be without, not to have, to need, to require. My life lacks excitement.
- To be short (of or for something). He'll never lack for company while he's got all that money.
- To be in want. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger […]
- To see the deficiency in (someone or something); to find fault with, to malign, reproach. That is Mede þe Mayde quod she · hath noyed me ful oft / And ylakked my lemman.
- To be off one's guard. His opps caught him lacking.
lack³
- /læk/ US, UK
Sounds like lakh (one pronunciation) · Rhymes with -æk
noun lacks
- Archaic form of lakh a lack of rupees
Similar: dearth, deficiency, deficit, dejection, inadequacy, infrequency, insufficiency, meagerness, nonsufficiency, lack, paucity, penury, rareness, rarity, scantiness, scarcity, shortage, shortcoming, unsufficiency, want · Opposite: adequacy, excess
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: deficiency, miss, want, insufficient, insufficiency, deficient, deficit, inadequacy, inadequate, shortcoming, failure, unsatisfactory, underemployment, inaction, incompetence, shortage
noun
Similar: dearth, deficiency, deficit, dejection, inadequacy, infrequency, insufficiency, meagerness, nonsufficiency, lack, paucity, penury, rareness, rarity, scantiness, scarcity, shortage, shortcoming, unsufficiency, want · Opposite: adequacy, excess
noun
Similar: dearth, deficiency, deficit, dejection, inadequacy, infrequency, insufficiency, meagerness, nonsufficiency, lack, paucity, penury, rareness, rarity, scantiness, scarcity, shortage, shortcoming, unsufficiency, want · Opposite: adequacy, excess
Translations
Every language
noun deficiency, need
| Español | falta, carencia, penuria, escasez |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 부족 bujok, 결핍 gyeolpip |
| 日本語 | 不足 fusoku, 欠乏 ketsubō |
| 中文 | 不足 bùzú, 缺乏 quēfá |
| हिन्दी | कमी kamī, अभाव abhāv, अपर्याप्त aparyāpt |
| Português | falta, carência, deficiência, penúria, escassez |
| Français | manque, défaut, absence |
| Deutsch | Mangel |
| Italiano | mancanza, scarsità, carenza, penuria |
| Ελληνικά | έλλειψη élleipsi, ένδεια éndeia |
| Română | lipsă (de) |
| Русский | отсу́тствие otsútstvije, нехва́тка nexvátka, недоста́ток nedostátok, нужда́ nuždá |
| العربية | نَقْص naqṣ, عَدَم وُجُود ʕadam wujūd |
| עברית | חוסר chóser |
verb be without, need, require
| Español | faltar, carecer, vacar de |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 없다 eopda, 부족하다 bujokhada |
| 日本語 | 欠ける kakeru, 欠く kaku |
| 中文 | 缺 quē, 欠 qiàn, 缺乏 quēfá |
| Português | faltar, carecer |
| Français | manquer |
| Deutsch | mangeln, fehlen, entbehren |
| Italiano | mancare, scarseggiare, richiedere, necessitare |
| Русский | отсу́тствовать otsútstvovatʹ, недостава́ть nedostavátʹ, недоста́ть nedostátʹ, нужда́ться nuždátʹsja |
| Tiếng Việt | thiếu |
Talk about this word "lack." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/lack. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. lack. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/lack "lack." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/lack.Cite this
@misc{lack_2026,
title = {lack},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/lack},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
