noun
definition
A defect or failing; moral or spiritual degeneracy.
definition
A deficiency or need (of something desirable or necessary); an absence, want.
verb
definition
To be without, to need, to require.
example
My life lacks excitement.
definition
To be short (of or for something).
example
He'll never lack for company while he's got all that money.
definition
To be in want.
definition
To see the deficiency in (someone or something); to find fault with, to malign, reproach.
Examples of lack in a Sentence
The lack of security is unsettling.
All I lack is a playmate to call my own.
His voice was raspy from his own lack of sleep.
When the ancients could not find these solutions, it was not for a lack of intelligence but for a lack of technology.
Besides, her lack of response in the past had been far more effective.
He's quick to apologize but his regrets sometimes lack sincerity.
He slept little, continuing to regret his lack of action throughout the night.
At least he couldn't blame her for any lack of attention this time.
His lack of response sent a painful flush into her neck.
He continued to stare at her total lack of remorse.
On the fourth night they sat cross-legged together discussing their future, or lack thereof.
Natasha repeated with a smile of pity at her friend's lack of comprehension.
All the activity and lack of sleep was catching up with her and she was exhausted.
He gets stymied at times because of lack of access to certain information sources.
Dean's lack of proficiency at mountain climbing left him to make do instead of utilizing a more effective and safer method of descent.
The doctor said they could find no reason for him to stay in a coma, except the possibility of brain damage from lack of oxygen or blood loss.
She just shrugged her shoulders as if she could care less about his lack of vocalization and moseyed over to near where Fred and the boy were sitting, the notebook between them.
Dean couldn't bring himself to think of any of them seriously, given their lack of reasonable motive.
Lack of means of transport was a principal cause of the slow progress of Angola.
Notwithstanding his vices and his lack of all solid capacity, there is no reason to suppose that Napper Tandy was dishonest or insincere; and the manner in which his name was introduced in the well-known ballad, "The Wearing of the Green," proves that he succeeded in impressing the popular imagination of the rebel party in Ireland.
There is no lack of cross-channel services between Ireland and Great Britain.
Although the technique of growing cowpox on cow hides would come, transporting it was difficult due to lack of refrigeration.
It was his view that "the attainment of human rights in the fullest sense cannot be achieved so long as hundreds of millions of poverty-stricken people lack the basic necessities for life."
After completing these reductions, Airy made inquiries, before engaging in any theoretical investigation in connexion with them, whether any other mathematician was pursuing the subject, and learning that Hansen had taken it in hand under the patronage of the king of Denmark, but that, owing to the death of the king and the consequent lack of funds, there was danger of his being compelled to abandon it, he applied to the admiralty on Hansen's behalf for the necessary sum.
In 1920 a very influential movement began, in England, for the despatch of a new " Challenger " expedition on a great scale, but it was suspended in 1921 for lack of funds.
Efforts to create a native industry date only from 1867, and, considering the shortness of the time and other adverse factors, such as scarcity of capital, lack of means of communication, the development of industry in the neighbouring state of Austria, &c., the industry of Hungary has made great strides.
But due to lack of policies for proper water management the irrigation system is too poor.
But although Ireland is as rich as, or even richer in monuments of the past than, most countries in Europe, comparatively little has been done owing in large measure to the lack of systematic investigation.
Since then, besides the visit of the prince and princess of Wales in 1885, Prince Albert Victor and Prince George of Wales had visited Ireland in 1887, and the duke and duchess of York (afterwards prince and princess of Wales) in 1897; but the lack of any permanent royal residence and the long-continued absence of the sovereign in person had aroused repeated comment.
Owing to a lack of water it is only slightly cultivated, but game is plentiful.
Owing to the lack of shelter in its open roadstead, the port has not become the great commercial centre which its position otherwise qualifies it to be.
He too notes " the defect in early speech " - that is, the " lack of words free from implications of vitality " - as one of the causes which " favour personalization."
The Scandinavian myths of the gods are numerous and interesting, but the evidence on which they have reached us demands criticism for which we lack space.
The lack of funds which would have proved fatal to Spartan naval warfare was remedied by the intervention of Persia, which supplied large subsidies, and Spartan good fortune culminated in the possession at this time of an admiral of boundless vigour and considerable military ability, Lysander, to whom much of Sparta's success is attributable.
In 1830 an attempt, finally unsuccessful mainly owing to the lack of fuel, was made to smelt iron from the ores found in the vicinity.
Conversely, in places where prosperity has not risen, lack of these ingredients plays a significant role.
I remember in autumn of '87 thinking it was perfectly reasonable to take the red 1964 Corvair convertible for a test drive, despite its lack of functioning brakes.
Admiral da Gama, unable to leave the Bay of Rio de Janeiro on account of lack of transport for the sick and wounded and the civilians claiming his protection, could do no more than wait for Admiral Mello to return from Desterro.
The besieged had suffered greatly from lack of food.
By offering rewards for the best original dramatic productions, the academy provided that the national theatre should not suffer from a lack of classical dramas.
So in the microscope there is nothing except lack of light to hinder the visibility of an object however small.
In io05 the Danes were absent in Denmark, but came back next year, and emboldened by the utter lack of resistance, they ranged far inland.
Notwithstanding the defection of his uncle Louis and other companions who returned to Germany, the threatenings of Pope Clement IV., and lack of funds, his cause seemed to prosper.
Julius Caesar's lines on Terence, the "dimidiatus Menander," while they complain of lack of comic power, characterize him as "puri sermonis amator."
There is no lack of officers of the highest grades, but the rank and file are not uniformed, equipped or drilled, and military campaigns are usually irregular in character and of comparatively short duration.
But isolation and lack of transportation facilities have retarded its development.
The change in the government of the church, the rival council of Pisa, the ecclesiastical and political dissensions within and without the council, and the lack of disinterestedness on the part of its members, all combined to frustrate the hopes which its convocation had awakened.
If in regard to France his policy appeared to lack suavity and circumspection, it must be remembered that the French republic was then engaged in active anti-Italian schemes and was working, both at the Vatican and in the sphere of colonial politics, to create a situation that should compel Italy to bow to French exigencies and to abandon the Triple Alliance.
The vitality of the movement, however, had left it, and its inconsistencies, combined with the lack of strong leadership, landed it in a position scarcely distinguishable from orthodox Hinduism.
Agriculture has been developed only to a limited extent in Sonora, because of its aridity, lack of irrigation facilities, lack of railways and roads, and the unsettled state of the country.