as in shortage
a falling short of an essential or desirable amount or number
there is a deficiency of fresh food in the diet of many of the working poor
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Recent Examples of deficiency
Trade grades Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto approached this trade deadline with clear deficiencies in the corners of his infield.
—
Zack Meisel, New York Times, 25 July 2025
Federal inspectors in 2023 noted several issues at the prison including deficiencies in staffing, food safety, and infrastructure.
—Hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 July 2025
Symptoms of severe protein deficiency can show up in the skin as well.
—Victoria Moorhouse, Allure, 30 July 2025
For me, my deficiencies showed up in my body as fatigue.
—Conçetta Ciarlo, Vogue, 26 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for deficiency
Zack Meisel, New York Times, 25 July 2025
Federal inspectors in 2023 noted several issues at the prison including deficiencies in staffing, food safety, and infrastructure.
—Hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 July 2025
Symptoms of severe protein deficiency can show up in the skin as well.
—Victoria Moorhouse, Allure, 30 July 2025
For me, my deficiencies showed up in my body as fatigue.
—Conçetta Ciarlo, Vogue, 26 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for deficiency
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deficiency
Noun
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The idea for Draft One came from staffing shortages that Axon’s police department clients were facing, Isner said.—
Clare Duffy,
CNN Money,
12 Aug. 2025
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Companies are experimenting with deep-sea tech to produce cheaper fresh water From Cape Town to Tehran to Lima to Phoenix, dozens of cities across the globe have experienced water shortages recently.—
Vanessa Bates Ramirez,
Scientific American,
11 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Another driver of instability is the lack of details about the trade agreements that have so far been reached.—
Sean Conlon,
CNBC,
17 Aug. 2025
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The lack of postal addresses and official mapping further contributed to their disappearance from public records.—
Ed Gaskin,
Boston Herald,
16 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Deficiency.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deficiency. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.
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