Definition

1. Verb:

   • To be short of, to lack: Indicates a state of not having enough of something that is needed or desired.
   • To owe: Indicates a debt or obligation to give something, typically money, to someone else.

2. Adjective:

   • Insufficient, deficient: Describes something that is below the required, expected, or normal level or amount.
   • Incomplete: Describes something that is not whole or lacking a part, such as a short month in the lunar calendar.

Usage Examples

• Verb (to lack):
  • Tôi thiếu tiền để mua nhà. (I lack the money to buy a house.)
  • Khu vực này thiếu nước sạch trầm trọng. (This area severely lacks clean water.)
• Verb (to owe):
  • Tôi thiếu anh ấy năm mươi ngàn đồng. (I owe him fifty thousand dong.)
  • Cô ấy không thiếu ai điều gì cả. (She doesn't owe anyone anything.)
• Adjective (insufficient):
  • Phần ăn này hơi thiếu. (This portion of food is slightly insufficient.)
  • Đứa trẻ thiếu cân so với tuổi. (The child is underweight for their age.)

Advanced Usage

• "thiếu ăn": to lack food, to be in a state of food shortage.
  • Nhiều gia đình ở vùng sâu vùng xa vẫn còn thiếu ăn. (Many families in remote areas still lack food.)
• "thiếu cơ sở": to lack basis, to be unfounded.
  • Lời buộc tội đó hoàn toàn thiếu cơ sở. (That accusation is completely unfounded.)
• "thiếu óc" (e.g., thiếu óc sáng kiến): to lack a quality (e.g., to lack initiative). This structure uses "thiếu" + "óc" (mind) + noun to mean "lacking in (a certain quality)".
  • Anh ta thiếu óc tổ chức. (He lacks organizational skills.)

Variants and Related Words

• Thiếu thốn (verb/adjective): to be in need, to be deprived; needy, destitute. This is stronger than "thiếu".
  • Cuộc sống thiếu thốn. (A life of deprivation.)
• Thiếu hụt (verb/noun): to have a deficit/shortfall; a deficit/shortage. Often used in economic or quantitative contexts.
  • Thiếu hụt ngân sách. (Budget deficit.)
• Thiếu niên (noun): teenager, adolescent (literally: "young person who is lacking/not yet full").
  • Một thiếu niên mười lăm tuổi. (A fifteen-year-old teenager.)
• Thiếu sót (noun): shortcoming, omission, flaw.
  • Báo cáo này còn nhiều thiếu sót. (This report still has many shortcomings.)
• Thiếu úy (noun): second lieutenant (a military rank).

Synonyms

• Verb (to lack):
  • Không đủ: not enough.
  • Hiếm: scarce (implies rarity, not just personal lack).
• Verb (to owe):
  • Nợ: to owe (more common and direct for debts).
• Adjective (insufficient):
  • Không đầy đủ: not full, not complete.
  • Kém: poor, inferior in quality.

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• Thiếu đi: to be missing (something that should be there), often with a sense of loss.
  • Bức tranh thiếu đi một chút sinh khí. (The painting is missing a bit of vitality.)
• Thiếu vắng: to be absent, to be missing (often used for people or abstract qualities).
  • Sự thiếu vắng của cô ấy làm mọi người buồn. (Her absence made everyone sad.)

Related Idioms

• "Thiếu gì...": There's no lack of...; There are plenty of... (Used to emphasize abundance, often rhetorically).
  • Ở đây thiếu gì nhà hàng ngon. (There's no lack of good restaurants here.)
• "Còn thiếu": still lacking/owing; it falls short.
  • Số tiền này còn thiếu. (This amount of money is still short / is still owed.)
• "Thiếu trước hụt sau": (idiom) to be constantly short of things, to live hand to mouth.
  • Cuộc sống thiếu trước hụt sau. (A life of constant scarcity.)

verb

1. to be short of, to lack to owe