lack

See also Lack

English

Etymology

Apparently cognate with Middle Low German lak, Middle Dutch lac ( > modern lak (“calumny”)).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /lak/
• (US) IPA: /læk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æk

Noun

lack (plural lacks)

1. (obsolete) A defect or failing; moral or spiritual degeneracy.
2. A deficiency or need (of something desirable or necessary); an absence, want.
   • 1994, Green Day, Basket Case

     I went to a shrink, to analyze my dreams. He said it's lack of sex that's bringing my down.

Antonyms

• glut
• surplus

Translations

deficiency, need

Armenian: պակաս (hy) (pakas) Bulgarian: нужда (bg) (núžda) f., липса (bg) (lípsa) f. Catalan: falta (ca) f., manca (ca) f. Chinese: Mandarin: 不足 (cmn) (bùzú) Czech: nedostatek (cs) m. Dutch: gebrek (nl) n. Esperanto: manko (eo) Finnish: puute (fi), vajaus (fi) French: manque (fr) m., défaut (fr) m. German: Mangel (de) m. Hungarian: hiány (hu) Icelandic: skortur (is) m.

Italian: mancanza (it) f. Japanese: 不足 (ja) (ふそく, fusoku) Latin: pēnūria (la) f. Norwegian: mangel (no) m. Portuguese: falta (pt) f. Romanian: lipsă (de) f. Russian: отсутствие (ru) (otsútstvije) n., нехватка (ru) (nexvátka) f., недостаток (ru) (nedostátok) m. Scottish Gaelic: cion (gd) m., gainne (gd) f., gainnead (gd) m., easbhaidh (gd) f. Spanish: falta (es) f., carencia (es) f. Swedish: avsaknad (sv) c. Turkish:, eksiklik (tr), yokluk (tr)

Verb

lack (third-person singular simple present lacks, present participle lacking, simple past and past participle lacked)

1. (transitive) To be without, to need, to require.

   My life lacks excitement.

2. (intransitive) To be short (of or for something).

   He'll never lack for company while he's got all that money.

Translations

be without, need, require

Catalan: faltar (ca), mancar (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 缺 (cmn) (quē), 欠 (cmn) (qiàn), 缺乏 (cmn) (quēfá) Czech: postrádat (cs) Dutch: derven, ontberen, missen, gebrek hebben (aan) Finnish: puuttua, olla vailla jotakin French: manquer (fr) German: mangeln (de), fehlen (de) Haitian Creole: manke Hungarian: nélkülöz (hu)

Icelandic: skorta (is) Italian: mancare (it) Japanese: 欠ける (ja) (かける, kakeru) (intransitive), 欠く (ja) (かく, kaku) (transitive) Latin: desum (la), egeo (la), careo (la), desidero (la) Norwegian: mangle (no) Russian: отсутствовать (ru) (otsútstvovat') Spanish: faltar (es), carecer (es) Swedish: sakna (sv), fattas (sv) Vietnamese: thiếu (vi) Welsh: yn eisiau (cy)

Related terms

• lacklustre

Anagrams

• calk

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Swedish

Noun

lack n.

1. lacquer

Declension

Declension of lack

	singular		plural
Neuter	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	lack	lacket	lacker	lackerna
genitive	lacks	lackets	lackers	lackernas

Related terms

• klarlack
• lacknafta
• lackskor
• nagellack