Definition

1. Noun:
   • The state of being deficient; lack or insufficiency: A deficiency refers to a situation where something is missing, inadequate, or not present in a sufficient amount or quality.
   • A shortage or deficit: A deficiency can be a specific, measurable shortfall in a required quantity, such as money or a nutrient.
   • An imperfection or failing: A deficiency can also describe a flaw, weakness, or inadequacy in a system, process, or person's abilities.

Usage and Examples

• General Lack or Shortage:
  • The audit revealed a significant deficiency in the company's funds.
  • A deficiency of vitamin C can lead to scurvy.
• Imperfection or Weakness:
  • The main deficiency in the plan is its lack of a clear timeline.
  • The report highlighted several deficiencies in the safety procedures.

Advanced Usage

• "To make up a deficiency": to compensate for a shortfall or lack.
  • Additional funding was allocated to make up the deficiency in the budget.
• "To suffer from a deficiency": to experience the negative effects of a lack.
  • The crops are suffering from a deficiency of nitrogen in the soil.

Variants and Related Words

• Deficient (adj): Lacking in some necessary quality or element; inadequate.
  • The soil is deficient in essential minerals.
• Deficit (n): The amount by which something, especially a sum of money, is too small. (Often used in financial contexts).
  • The country is running a large trade deficit.

Synonyms

• Shortage: A state or situation in which something needed cannot be obtained in sufficient amounts.
• Insufficiency: The condition of being inadequate.
• Lack: The state of being without or not having enough of something.
• Want (archaic/literary): A lack or deficiency of something.

Antonyms

• Sufficiency: An adequate amount.
• Surplus: An amount of something left over when requirements have been met; an excess.
• Adequacy: The state or quality of being sufficient for the purpose concerned.

Related Phrases and Collocations

• Nutritional deficiency: A lack of essential vitamins or minerals in the diet.
• Immune deficiency: A failure of the immune system to protect the body adequately from infection.
• Hearing deficiency: An impairment or lack of normal hearing ability.

Noun

1. lack of an adequate quantity or number
   • the inadequacy of unemployment benefits
2. the state of needing something that is absent or unavailable
   • 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