Standard Lemma guide

lack

noun · verb · 10 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /læk/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • homophone: lakh (one pronunciation)
  • rhymes with -æk
  • CMU ARPABET: L AE1 K Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A deficiency or need (of something desirable or necessary); an absence, want, dearth.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: paucity

Antonyms: glut, surplus, plethora

2

noun

Meaning 2

A defect or failing; moral or spiritual degeneracy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, obsolete, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Archaic form of lakh.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of, archaic

Examples

  • a lack of rupees

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

To be without, not to have, to need, to require.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: stative, transitive

Examples

  • My life lacks excitement.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

To be short (of or for something).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

Examples

  • He'll never lack for company while he's got all that money.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

verb

Meaning 6

To be in want.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive, obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

verb

Meaning 7

To see the deficiency in (someone or something); to find fault with, to malign, reproach.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

verb

Meaning 8

To be off one's guard.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: African-American Vernacular

Examples

  • His opps caught him lacking.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

the state of needing something that is absent or unavailable

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • there is a serious lack of insight into the problem
  • water is the critical deficiency in desert regions
  • for want of a nail the shoe was lost

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: deficiency, want

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: need, demand

Narrower terms: absence, dearth, famine, shortage, deficit, mineral deficiency, shortness, stringency, tightness

10

verb

Meaning 10

be without

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • This soup lacks salt
  • There is something missing in my jewelry box!

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: miss

Antonyms: none provided

Narrower terms: want, exclude

History

Etymology

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.

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”).

Across languages

Translations

191 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: skam — deficiency, need
  • Arabic: نَقْص (naqṣ) — deficiency, need
  • Arabic: عَدَم وُجُود (ʕadam wujūd) — deficiency, need
  • Armenian: պակաս (pakas) — deficiency, need
  • Armenian: պակասություն (pakasutʻyun) — deficiency, need
  • Assamese: নাটনি (natoni) — deficiency, need
  • Assamese: অনাটন (onaton) — deficiency, need
  • Azerbaijani: çatışmazlıq — deficiency, need
  • Azerbaijani: qıtlıq — deficiency, need
  • Belarusian: адсу́тнасць (adsútnascʹ) — deficiency, need
  • Belarusian: брак (brak) — deficiency, need
  • Belarusian: недахва́т (njedaxvát) — deficiency, need
  • Belarusian: недахо́п (njedaxóp) — deficiency, need
  • Bhojpuri: आभाव (ābhāv) — deficiency, need
  • Bulgarian: ну́жда (núžda) — deficiency, need
  • Bulgarian: ли́пса (lípsa) — deficiency, need
  • Bulgarian: отсъ́ствие (otsǎ́stvie) — deficiency, need
  • Catalan: falta — deficiency, need
  • Catalan: manca — deficiency, need
  • Catalan: fretura — deficiency, need
  • Catalan: mancança — deficiency, need
  • Chinese Mandarin: 不足 (bùzú) — deficiency, need
  • Chinese Mandarin: 缺乏 (quēfá) — deficiency, need
  • Czech: nedostatek — deficiency, need
  • Danish: mangel — deficiency, need
  • Dutch: gebrek — deficiency, need
  • Esperanto: manko — deficiency, need
  • Finnish: puute — deficiency, need
  • Finnish: vajaus — deficiency, need
  • Finnish: vaje — deficiency, need
  • French: manque — deficiency, need
  • French: défaut — deficiency, need
  • French: absence — deficiency, need
  • Galician: falla — deficiency, need
  • Galician: marra — deficiency, need
  • Galician: carencia — deficiency, need
  • German: Mangel — deficiency, need
  • Gothic: 𐍅𐌰𐌽 (wan) — deficiency, need
  • Greek: έλλειψη (élleipsi) — deficiency, need
  • Greek: ένδεια (éndeia) — deficiency, need
  • Ancient Greek: ἔνδεια (éndeia) — deficiency, need
  • Hebrew: חוסר (chóser) — deficiency, need
  • Hindi: कमी (kamī) — deficiency, need
  • Hindi: अभाव (abhāv) — deficiency, need
  • Hindi: अपर्याप्त (aparyāpt) — deficiency, need
  • Hungarian: hiány — deficiency, need
  • Icelandic: skortur — deficiency, need
  • Ingrian: vaijuus — deficiency, need
  • Irish: uireasa — deficiency, need
  • Italian: mancanza — deficiency, need
  • Italian: scarsità — deficiency, need
  • Italian: carenza — deficiency, need
  • Italian: penuria — deficiency, need
  • Japanese: 不足 (fusoku) — deficiency, need
  • Japanese: 欠乏 (ketsubō) — deficiency, need
  • Korean: 부족 (bujok) — deficiency, need
  • Korean: 결핍 (gyeolpip) — deficiency, need
  • Ladino: mankansa — deficiency, need
  • Latin: pēnūria — deficiency, need
  • Macedonian: недостаток (nedostatok) — deficiency, need
  • Malayalam: ഇല്ലായ്മ (illāyma) — deficiency, need
  • Malayalam: അഭാവം (abhāvaṁ) — deficiency, need
  • Māori: kore — deficiency, need
  • Norwegian: mangel — deficiency, need
  • Occitan: manca — deficiency, need
  • Occitan: mancança — deficiency, need
  • Polish: brak — deficiency, need
  • Polish: niedostatek — deficiency, need
  • Portuguese: falta — deficiency, need
  • Portuguese: carência — deficiency, need
  • Portuguese: deficiência — deficiency, need
  • Portuguese: penúria — deficiency, need
  • Portuguese: escassez — deficiency, need
  • Romanian: lipsă (de) — deficiency, need
  • Russian: отсу́тствие (otsútstvije) — deficiency, need
  • Russian: нехва́тка (nexvátka) — deficiency, need
  • Russian: недоста́ток (nedostátok) — deficiency, need
  • Russian: нужда́ (nuždá) — deficiency, need
  • Scottish Gaelic: cion — deficiency, need
  • Scottish Gaelic: gainne — deficiency, need
  • Scottish Gaelic: gainnead — deficiency, need
  • Scottish Gaelic: easbhaidh — deficiency, need
  • Serbo-Croatian: недостатак — deficiency, need
  • Serbo-Croatian: nedostatak — deficiency, need
  • Slovak: nedostatok — deficiency, need
  • Spanish: falta — deficiency, need
  • Spanish: carencia — deficiency, need
  • Spanish: penuria — deficiency, need
  • Spanish: escasez — deficiency, need
  • Swedish: avsaknad — deficiency, need
  • Swedish: brist — deficiency, need
  • Tocharian B: menki — deficiency, need
  • Turkish: eksiklik — deficiency, need
  • Turkish: yokluk — deficiency, need
  • Turkish: yoksunluk — deficiency, need
  • Turkish: noksan — deficiency, need
  • Ottoman Turkish: نقصان (noksan) — deficiency, need
  • Ottoman Turkish: فقدان (fıkdân) — deficiency, need
  • Ukrainian: брак (brak) — deficiency, need
  • Ukrainian: відсу́тність (vidsútnistʹ) — deficiency, need
  • Ukrainian: недоста́ча (nedostáča) — deficiency, need
  • Urdu: کمی (kamī) — deficiency, need
  • Welsh: diffyg — deficiency, need
  • Yiddish: מאַנגל (mangl) — deficiency, need
  • Zazaki: kemiyey — deficiency, need
  • Zazaki: kemeyin — deficiency, need
  • Zazaki: taynin — deficiency, need
  • Zazaki: qıtlığ — deficiency, need
  • Albanian: lyp — be without, need, require
  • Basque: falta da — be without, need, require
  • Belarusian: бракава́ць (brakavácʹ) — be without, need, require
  • Belarusian: адсу́тнічаць (adsútničacʹ) — be without, need, require
  • Bulgarian: нужда́я се (nuždája se) — be without, need, require
  • Bulgarian: липсва ми (lipsva mi) — be without, need, require
  • Catalan: faltar — be without, need, require
  • Catalan: mancar — be without, need, require
  • Chinese Mandarin: 缺 (quē) — be without, need, require
  • Chinese Mandarin: 欠 (qiàn) — be without, need, require
  • Chinese Mandarin: 缺乏 (quēfá) — be without, need, require
  • Czech: postrádat — be without, need, require
  • Danish: mangle — be without, need, require
  • Dutch: derven — be without, need, require
  • Dutch: ontberen — be without, need, require
  • Dutch: missen — be without, need, require
  • Dutch: gebrek hebben (aan) — be without, need, require
  • Esperanto: manki — be without, need, require
  • Faliscan: careo (careo) — be without, need, require
  • Finnish: tarvita — be without, need, require
  • Finnish: kaivata — be without, need, require
  • French: manquer — be without, need, require
  • Galician: faltar — be without, need, require
  • Galician: fallar — be without, need, require
  • Galician: marrar — be without, need, require
  • Georgian: აკლია (aḳlia) — be without, need, require
  • German: mangeln — be without, need, require
  • German: fehlen — be without, need, require
  • German: entbehren — be without, need, require
  • German: fääle — be without, need, require
  • Ancient Greek: δέω (déō) — be without, need, require
  • Ancient Greek: χηρεύω (khēreúō) — be without, need, require
  • Greenlandic: -ilatsi — be without, need, require
  • Haitian Creole: manke — be without, need, require
  • Hungarian: nélkülöz — be without, need, require
  • Hungarian: hiányt szenved — be without, need, require
  • Hungarian: hiányol — be without, need, require
  • Icelandic: skorta — be without, need, require
  • Ido: indijar — be without, need, require
  • Italian: mancare — be without, need, require
  • Italian: scarseggiare — be without, need, require
  • Italian: richiedere — be without, need, require
  • Italian: necessitare — be without, need, require
  • Japanese: 欠ける (kakeru) — be without, need, require
  • Japanese: 欠く (kaku) — be without, need, require
  • Kashubian: mësac — be without, need, require
  • Khmer: ខ្វះ (khvah) — be without, need, require
  • Korean: 없다 (eopda) — be without, need, require
  • Korean: 부족하다 (bujokhada) — be without, need, require
  • Ladino: mankar — be without, need, require
  • Latin: desum — be without, need, require
  • Latin: egeo — be without, need, require
  • Latin: careo — be without, need, require
  • Latin: desidero — be without, need, require
  • Macedonian: недостасува (nedostasuva) — be without, need, require
  • Māori: kōpaka — be without, need, require
  • Mongolian: дутах (dutax) — be without, need, require
  • Norwegian: mangle — be without, need, require
  • Occitan: mancar — be without, need, require
  • Old Church Slavonic: недостати (nedostati) — be without, need, require
  • Polish: brakować — be without, need, require
  • Polish: zabraknąć — be without, need, require
  • Portuguese: faltar — be without, need, require
  • Portuguese: carecer — be without, need, require
  • Quechua: muchuy — be without, need, require
  • Quechua: usuy — be without, need, require
  • Russian: отсу́тствовать (otsútstvovatʹ) — be without, need, require
  • Russian: недостава́ть (nedostavátʹ) — be without, need, require
  • Russian: недоста́ть (nedostátʹ) — be without, need, require
  • Russian: нужда́ться (nuždátʹsja) — be without, need, require
  • Sidamo: hooga — be without, need, require
  • Slovak: chýbať — be without, need, require
  • Slovene: manjkati — be without, need, require
  • Spanish: faltar — be without, need, require
  • Spanish: carecer — be without, need, require
  • Spanish: vacar de — be without, need, require
  • Swedish: sakna — be without, need, require
  • Swedish: fattas — be without, need, require
  • Turkish: yoksun olmak — be without, need, require
  • Ukrainian: бракува́ти (brakuváty) — be without, need, require
  • Vietnamese: thiếu — be without, need, require
  • Welsh: yn eisiau — be without, need, require
  • Wolaytta: pacaa — be without, need, require