lack

UK: /ˈlæk/ US: /læk/ ,(lak)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

lack /læk/   n. 

1. absence of something needed or desirable;
   not enough of something needed or desired:
   [uncountable] There is no lack of talent on this team.
   [countable* usually singular]
   The team has a lack of skill.
2. something missing or wanted:
   [uncountable] felt the lack of a steady income.

v. [not: be + ~-ing*  see lacking ]

3. to be without;
   have need of:
   [~ + object] You lack common sense.
4. to fall short in:
   [~ + object] He lacks three votes to win.
5. to be absent or missing:
   [no object] Nothing lacks but their full agreement.
6. to not have enough of something:
   [~ + for + object] She will never lack for friends.

Related Words

lack is a noun and a verb, lacking is an adjective:
A lack of money prevented us from buying a house. We lacked enough money to buy a house. You are lacking in many important skills.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

lack  (lak), n. 

1. deficiency or absence of something needed, desirable, or customary:
   lack of money; lack of skill.
2. something missing or needed:
   After he left, they really felt the lack.

v.t. 

3. to be without or deficient in:
   to lack ability; to lack the necessities of life.
4. to fall short in respect of:
   He lacks three votes to win.

v.i. 

5. to be absent or missing, as something needed or desirable:
   Three votes are lacking to make a majority.
6. lack in, to be short of or deficient in:
   What he lacks in brains, he makes up for in brawn.

• 1125–75; Middle English lak; cognate with Middle Low German lak, Middle Dutch lac deficiency; akin to Old Norse lakr deficient

Synonyms

• 1. dearth, scarcity, paucity, deficit, insufficiency.
• 1, 3. want, need.
• 3. Lack, want, need, require as verbs all stress the absence of something desirable, important, or necessary.
  Lack means to be without or to have less than a desirable quantity of something:
  to lack courage, sufficient money, enough members to make a quorum.
  Want may imply some urgency in fulfilling a requirement or a desire:
  Willing workers are badly wanted. The room wants some final touch to make it homey.
  Need often suggests even more urgency than does want stressing the necessity of supplying what is lacking:
  to need an operation, better food, a match to light the fire.
  Require, which expresses necessity as strongly as need, occurs most frequently in serious or formal contexts:
  Your presence at the hearing is required. Successful experimentation requires careful attention to detail.

Antonyms

• 1. surplus.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

lack / læk/ noun

1. an insufficiency, shortage, or absence of something required or desired
2. something that is required but is absent or in short supply

verb

1. when intr, often followed by in or for: to be deficient (in) or have need (of)

Etymology: 12th Century: related to Middle Dutch laken to be wanting