Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Deficient / Inadequate: Describes a state where there is not enough of something required or expected, resulting in a shortfall or insufficiency.
   • In deficit: Specifically used to describe a budget, account, or system where expenditures or losses exceed income or resources.

2. Noun:

   • A deficit / A shortfall: The amount by which something, especially a sum of money or a quantity, is too small or falls short of what is needed.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Ngân sách nhà nước bị thiếu hụt. (The state budget is in deficit.)
  • Nguồn lực cho dự án này rất thiếu hụt. (The resources for this project are very inadequate.)
• Noun:
  • Chúng ta đang đối mặt với một sự thiếu hụt lương thực nghiêm trọng. (We are facing a serious food shortage.)
  • Sự thiếu hụt ngân sách phải được bù đắp. (The budget deficit must be covered.)

Advanced Usage

• "Thiếu hụt ngoại tệ": foreign exchange deficit.
  • Nền kinh tế đang vật lộn với tình trạng thiếu hụt ngoại tệ. (The economy is struggling with a foreign exchange deficit.)
• "Thiếu hụt dinh dưỡng": nutritional deficiency.
  • Thiếu hụt dinh dưỡng có thể dẫn đến nhiều vấn đề sức khỏe. (Nutritional deficiency can lead to many health problems.)

Variants and Related Words

• Thiếu (adj/v): to lack, to be short of. This is the root word, while "thiếu hụt" often implies a more calculated or systemic shortfall.
  • Chúng tôi thiếu nhân viên. (We are short of staff.)
• Thâm hụt (n): deficit (often used interchangeably with "thiếu hụt" in economic contexts, but can imply a deeper, more entrenched shortfall).
  • Thâm hụt thương mại (trade deficit).

Synonyms

• Deficient: Lacking in some necessary quality or element.
• Insufficient: Not enough; inadequate.
• Shortfall: A deficit of something required.

Related Idioms

• "Lấp chỗ thiếu hụt": to fill a gap / to make up for a shortfall.
  • Chúng ta cần tìm nguồn vốn mới để lấp chỗ thiếu hụt. (We need to find new capital to fill the shortfall.)

adj

1. short of, inadequate, deficient