deficiencynoun [ C or U ]
uk/dɪˈfɪʃ.ən.si/us/dɪˈfɪʃ.ən.si/C1 a state of not having, or not having enough, of something that is needed:
Pregnant women often suffer from iron deficiency.
Deficiencies in the education system have been much in the news.
More examples
- Severe iron deficiency can cause developmental delay and growth retardation.
- The teacher even implied that he was suffering from some kind of mental deficiency.
- The blood tests revealed a deficiency in certain key minerals and vitamins.
- There were clear deficiencies in the standard of service provided.
- Despite his deficiencies as a husband, he was a good father to his children.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Scarce, inadequate and not enough
- be at a premium idiom
- be thin on the ground idiom
- dearth
- deficient
- devoid
- gold dust
- late
- long on sth and short on sth idiom
- lousy
- meagre
- measly
- mingy
- nearly
- rare
- scarcity
- shortage
- shortfall
- sparse
- supply
- thin
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