# lack

Pronunciation: say "LAK" /læk/

## Noun

1. A shortage or absence of something desirable or necessary; a deficiency or want.
   - Simple: The state of having none or not enough of something you need or want.
   - _The project failed due to a lack of funding._
   - _There was a noticeable lack of enthusiasm in the room._

## Verb

2. To be without something, or not to have enough of something that is needed or wanted (also lack for).
   - Simple: To not have something, or not have enough of something you need or want.
   - _The proposal lacks the detail needed for approval._
   - _Many rural areas lack reliable internet access._

## Noun

3. Archaic form of lakh. *(archaic, Myanmar, South Asia)* — Archaic form of lakh.
   - Simple: Archaic form of lakh. An old way of writing the number one hundred thousand, used mostly for money in India.
4. A defect or failing; a moral or spiritual degeneracy of character. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A defect or failing, including a fault or weakness in someone's character.

## Verb

5. To be in want; to suffer poverty or privation. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To be poor or in need.
6. To regard someone or something as falling short; to find fault with, speak ill of, or reproach them. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To find fault with someone and criticize or blame them.

## Other meanings

- (verb) To be off one's guard; to be unaware or unprepared to defend oneself.

## Origin

**Meanings 1, 4** — From Middle English lak, from Old English *læc ("deficiency, lack, want"), from Proto-Germanic roots meaning "slackness" and "limp, slack, loose, low." It is related to words for blame or reproach, and has cognates in Dutch lak and Icelandic lakur ("lacking").
**Meanings 2, 5–6** — From Middle English lacken, from Old English læccian ("to blame, criticize, lack"), from Proto-Germanic *lak(k)ōną ("to reproach, blame, be lacking"). It has cognates in Old Frisian lakia ("to contest, blame") and Dutch laken ("to blame, reproach").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/lack (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).