lack

See also: Lack and läck

English

Etymology

Apparently cognate with Middle Low German lak, Middle Dutch lac (Dutch lak (“calumny”)), Old Norse lakr (“lacking”), ultimately all from Proto-Germanic *laka-.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /lak/
• (US) IPA^(key): /læk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æk

Noun

lack (countable and uncountable, plural lacks)

1. (obsolete) A defect or failing; moral or spiritual degeneracy.
   • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 1, in The Celebrity:

     In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned.

2. A deficiency or need (of something desirable or necessary); an absence, want.
   • c. 1596, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Scene 1,^[1]

     […] let his lack of years be no impediment to let him lack a reverend estimation;

   • 1994, Green Day, Basket Case

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

   • 2012 September 7, Phil McNulty, “Moldova 0-5 England”, in BBC Sport:

     If Moldova harboured even the slightest hopes of pulling off a comeback that would have bordered on miraculous given their lack of quality, they were snuffed out 13 minutes before the break when Oxlade-Chamberlain picked his way through midfield before releasing Defoe for a finish that should have been dealt with more convincingly by Namasco at his near post.

Antonyms

• glut
• surplus

Translations

deficiency, need

• Arabic: نَقْص‎‎ m (naqṣ), عَدَم وُجُود‎‎ m (ʿadam wujūd)
• Armenian: պակաս (hy) (pakas)
• Assamese: নাটনি (natoni), অনাটন (onaton)
• Belarusian: адсу́тнасць (be) f (adsútnascʹ), брак m (brak), недахва́т m (njedaxvát), недахо́п m (njedaxóp)
• Bulgarian: ну́жда (bg) f (núžda), ли́пса (bg) f (lípsa), отсъ̀ствие (bg) n (otsǎ̀stvie)
• Catalan: falta (ca) f, manca (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不足 (zh) (bùzú), 缺乏 (zh) (quēfá)

• Czech: nedostatek (cs) m
• Dutch: gebrek (nl) n
• Esperanto: manko
• Finnish: puute (fi), vajaus (fi), vaje (fi)
• French: manque (fr) m, défaut (fr) m, absence (fr) f
• German: Mangel (de) m
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: ἔνδεια f (éndeia)

• Hebrew: חוסר‎‎ m (chóser)
• Hindi: कमी (hi) f (kamī)
• Hungarian: hiány (hu)
• Icelandic: skortur (is) m
• Irish: uireasa f
• Italian: mancanza (it) f, scarsità (it) f, carenza (it) f, penuria (it) f

• Japanese: 不足 (ja) (ふそく, fusoku), 欠乏 (ja) (けつぼう, ketsubō)
• Korean: 부족 (ko) (bujok), 결핍 (ko) (gyeolpip)
• Latin: pēnūria f
• Macedonian: недостаток m (nedostatok)
• Maori: kore (mi)
• Norwegian: mangel (no) m
• Ottoman Turkish: فقدان‎‎ (fıkdân)
• Polish: brak (pl) m, niedostatek (pl) m
• Portuguese: falta (pt) f, carência (pt) f, deficiência (pt) f
• Romanian: lipsă (de) (ro) f
• Russian: отсу́тствие (ru) n (otsútstvije), нехва́тка (ru) f (nexvátka), недоста́ток (ru) m (nedostátok), нужда́ (ru) f (nuždá) (need)
• Scottish Gaelic: cion m, gainne f, gainnead m, easbhaidh f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: недостатак m

  Roman: nedostatak (sh) m

• Slovak: nedostatok m
• Spanish: falta (es) f, carencia (es) f, penuria (es) f
• Swedish: avsaknad (sv) c, brist (sv) c
• Turkish: , eksiklik (tr), yokluk (tr), yoksunluk (tr), noksan (tr)
• Ukrainian: брак (uk) m (brak), відсу́тність f (vidsútnistʹ), недоста́ча f (nedostáča)
• Urdu: کمی‎‎ f (kamī)

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.

   • c. 1600,, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act I, Scene 4,^[2]

     Hamlet. What hour now?

     Horatio. I think it lacks of twelve.

3. (intransitive, obsolete) To be in want.
   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Psalm 34.10,^[3]

     The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger […]

4. (obsolete) To see the deficiency in (someone or something); to find fault with, to malign, reproach.
   • c. 1385, William Langland, Piers Plowman, II:

     That is Mede þe Mayde quod she · hath noyed me ful oft / And ylakked my lemman.

Related terms

• lackluster

Translations

be without, need, require

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Belarusian: бракава́ць impf (brakavácʹ), адсу́тнічаць impf (adsútničacʹ)
• Catalan: faltar (ca), mancar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 缺 (zh) (quē), 欠 (zh) (qiàn), 缺乏 (zh) (quēfá)

• Czech: postrádat (cs)
• Dutch: (archaic) derven (nl), ontberen (nl), missen (nl), gebrek hebben (aan)
• Esperanto: manki (eo)
• Faliscan: careo (careo)
• Finnish: puuttua (fi)
• French: manquer (fr)
• Georgian: აკლია (aḳlia)
• German: mangeln (de), fehlen (de), (transitive, dated) entbehren (de)

  Alemannic German: fääle

• Greek:

  Ancient: δέω (déō)

• Greenlandic: -ilatsi
• Haitian Creole: manke
• Hungarian: nélkülöz (hu)
• Icelandic: skorta
• Ido: indijar (io)
• Italian: mancare (it), scarseggiare (it), richiedere (it), necessitare (it)

• Japanese: 欠ける (ja) (かける, kakeru) (intransitive), 欠く (ja) (かく, kaku) (transitive)
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 없다 (ko) (eopda), 부족하다 (ko) (bujokhada) (be short)
• Latin: desum (la), egeo, careo, desidero
• Macedonian: недостасува impf (nedostasuva)
• Maori: kōpaka
• Mongolian: дутах (mn) (dutah)
• Norwegian: mangle (no)
• Polish: brakować (pl) impf, zabraknąć (pl) pf
• Portuguese: faltar (pt), carecer (pt)
• Quechua: muchuy, usuy
• Russian: отсу́тствовать (ru) impf (otsútstvovatʹ), недостава́ть (ru) impf (nedostavátʹ), недоста́ть (ru) pf (nedostátʹ), нужда́ться (ru) impf (nuždátʹsja) (need)
• Slovene: manjkati (sl) impf
• Spanish: faltar (es), carecer (es)
• Swedish: sakna (sv), fattas (sv)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: yoksun olmak (tr)
• Ukrainian: бракува́ти (uk) impf (brakuváty)
• Vietnamese: thiếu (vi)
• Welsh: yn eisiau
• Yup'ik: (noun-to-verb postbase meaning "to lack N.") -ngite

Anagrams

• calk, kcal

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German

Verb

lack

1. imperative singular of lacken
2. (colloquial) first-person singular present of lacken

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Swedish

Noun

lack n

1. lacquer

Declension

Declension of lack
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	lack	lacket	lacker	lackerna
Genitive	lacks	lackets	lackers	lackernas

Related terms

• klarlack
• lacknafta
• lackskor
• nagellack