Synonyms of deficiency

deficiency

noun

di-ˈfi-shən-sē 

as in shortage

a falling short of an essential or desirable amount or number

there is a deficiency of fresh food in the diet of many of the working poor

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of deficiency

In this new dispensation where might makes right, any appeal to moral considerations in the practice of American foreign policy is ridiculed as a deficiency of the weak while the amoral exercise of power is venerated as a virtue of the strong. —Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 26 Mar. 2025

Table 1 is a good start to becoming more aware of deficiencies and excesses. —Mary Crossan, Forbes.com, 26 Mar. 2025

The company identified a material weakness in its internal controls over financial reporting, related to deficiencies in the conversion of NTS’s system of record for webhosting revenue and ineffective control design over revenue recognition. —Quartz Intelligence Newsroom, Quartz, 24 Mar. 2025

Criteria for zinc deficiency, as defined by the International Zinc Nutrition Consultative Group, are based on data collected in the United States between 1976 and 1980. —Manvir Singh, The New Yorker, 24 Mar. 2025