lacking

American  

[lak-ing] / ˈlæk ɪŋ /

preposition

1. being without; not having; wanting; less.

   Lacking equipment, the laboratory couldn't undertake the research project.

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adjective

1. wanting; deficient.

   He was found lacking in stamina.

Etymology

Origin of lacking

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; lack + -ing ²

Explanation

If something's lacking, there's not enough of it. Your new house may be lacking when it comes to comfortable chairs, leading your friends to lounge on the floor instead. If there's a shortage of something, it's lacking. You might also describe something that's deficient — or not quite good enough — as lacking. If a substitute teacher is lacking in skill when it comes to controlling a rowdy class, he'll be exhausted by the end of his first day on the job. Finally, you can use this word in the sense of "absent": If your older brother's appetite is lacking, he might be coming down with something — usually he can eat an entire pizza on his own.

Example Sentences

They’re lacking in skill but overflowing with hustle.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026

The billionaire certainly isn’t lacking for housing options in the Big Apple, where he owns several dwellings—including an extraordinary penthouse that he bought for $238 million in 2019.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 22, 2026

"Cells lacking the system lost their normal rectangular-like cell shape and instead became round and swollen," Springstein explains.

From Science Daily • Apr. 20, 2026

They deployed strategies like the sacrifice bunt and stolen base with remarkable frequency despite lacking real evidence to justify such usage.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

In order to have a Copernicanism with spheres there needs to be an account of how the Earth/moon system is attached to a sphere, which is noticeably lacking.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

• flawed
• inadequate
• incomplete