deficiency
Pluraldeficiencies
- 1A lack of something a person needs, especially for good health.
Like a plant that turns yellow because it isn't getting enough water.
A vitamin D deficiency can make your bones weak.
The doctor said her tiredness came from an iron deficiency.
Similarshortage, lack, insufficiency, deficit
Note
- 2The state of not being good enough or complete.
Like a glass that is only half full when you needed it full.
The judges noted real deficiency in the team's defense.
Poor planning led to deficiency throughout the whole project.
Similarinadequacy, insufficiency, weakness, imperfection
Oppositeadequacy, sufficiency
Note
- 3In math, how many fewer crossing points a curve has than the most it could have.
Like a sticker album that is missing some of the stickers it could hold.
Students calculated the deficiency to see how many crossings the curve was missing.
A higher deficiency means the curve has fewer self-crossings than the maximum.
Note
- 4In math, the number of dimensions a smaller family of shapes is missing compared with the full family it sits inside.
Like counting how many seats are empty in a row compared with a row that is completely filled.
The deficiency shows how many dimensions the family of curves is missing.
A deficiency of zero means the smaller family is actually the full one.
Note
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of deficiency apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
From the word "deficient" plus "-cy."