Insufficiency

//ɪnsəˈfɪʃənsi// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The lack of sufficiency: a shortage, the state of having or being not enough (of something).

    "Near-synonyms: deficiency (broadly synonymous), inadequacy"

  2. 2
    lack of an adequate quantity or number wordnet
  3. 3
    (pathology) inability of a bodily part or organ to function normally wordnet
  4. 4
    a lack of competence wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
inadequacyinadequacyabsencearreararrearagearrears

Example

More examples

"The drought led to an insufficiency of food."

Etymology

From in- + sufficiency.

Related phrases

pancreatic insufficiencythoracic insufficiency syndrome

More for "insufficiency"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.