1
as in incomplete
lacking some necessary part
a diet deficient in calcium can lead to weak bones
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in unacceptable
falling short of a standard
woefully deficient eyesight kept him out of military service
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in lacking
not coming up to an expected measure or meeting a particular need
too deficient in common sense to be trusted to stay by himself
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of deficient
One of the challenges with character is that any of the virtues can manifest as deficient or excess vices, as shown in Table 1.
—
Mary Crossan, Forbes.com, 28 Jan. 2026
As a result, temozolomide is highly effective in treating patients with MGMT-deficient glioblastomas.
—Isabella Backman, Hartford Courant, 27 Jan. 2026
And, to be sure, one 6-11 season after seven straight AFC Championship Game appearances and three Super Bowl triumphs doesn’t mean his ways and views suddenly are deficient.
—Kansas City Star, 21 Jan. 2026
Elgin has hired an engineering firm to start the work needed to repair the National Street bridge over the Fox River, which an Illinois Department of Transportation inspection shows is structurally deficient but still functional.
—Gloria Casas, Chicago Tribune, 20 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for deficient
Mary Crossan, Forbes.com, 28 Jan. 2026
As a result, temozolomide is highly effective in treating patients with MGMT-deficient glioblastomas.
—Isabella Backman, Hartford Courant, 27 Jan. 2026
And, to be sure, one 6-11 season after seven straight AFC Championship Game appearances and three Super Bowl triumphs doesn’t mean his ways and views suddenly are deficient.
—Kansas City Star, 21 Jan. 2026
Elgin has hired an engineering firm to start the work needed to repair the National Street bridge over the Fox River, which an Illinois Department of Transportation inspection shows is structurally deficient but still functional.
—Gloria Casas, Chicago Tribune, 20 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for deficient
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deficient
Adjective
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Those narratives are emotionally satisfying — and incomplete.—
Mark Mitchell,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Feb. 2026
-
The problem is the AI models that help come up with drug candidates are still very inaccurate, largely because the data used to train these models is sparse and incomplete.—
Reed Albergotti,
semafor.com,
4 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Local officials criticized the FAA for imposing the closure without advance notice or coordination, calling the lack of communication unacceptable.—
Seung Min Kim,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Feb. 2026
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That failure to communicate is unacceptable.—
Jay Blackman,
NBC news,
11 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Vučević is also a good defensive rebounder, an area in which the Celtics are greatly lacking.—
Zach Harper,
New York Times,
3 Feb. 2026
-
Unfortunately, that correspondence is wholly lacking.—
Clarence Page,
Chicago Tribune,
1 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Now Rubio was telling liberal centrist foreign leaders that their entire outlook was wrong, echoing the far-right populist opponents who might well unseat them in upcoming elections.—
Nick Paton Walsh,
CNN Money,
15 Feb. 2026
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And so the custodians became irate when photographs emerged of the actor Sarah Pidgeon, who plays Bessette in Murphy’s show, looking all wrong on set.—
Doreen St. Félix,
New Yorker,
14 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Even so, Elder, in the memorandum to the commission, said a future rise in the number of household shoppers may render the parking inadequate.—
Kenneth R. Gosselin,
Hartford Courant,
3 Feb. 2026
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Attempting to describe Once Upon a Time in Harlem with words feels inadequate.—
Jourdain Searles,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Semmann said stores raise prices primarily in response to supply chain issues, such as poor harvests, changes to international trade policy or increasing logistical costs.—
Francesca Pica,
jsonline.com,
10 Feb. 2026
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Boating conditions are poor across offshore waters south of Cape Canaveral, while small craft need to exercise caution near the inlets.—
Garfield Hylton,
The Orlando Sentinel,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Restoring the endangerment finding would be one step for new leadership to take, but simply bringing back the old regime of climate regulation would be insufficient to the size of the challenge now at hand.—
Justin Worland,
Time,
13 Feb. 2026
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The defense’s own expert has since rebutted the forensics, arguing the methodology is flawed and insufficient to attribute the sites to anyone.—
Gary Baum,
HollywoodReporter,
11 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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And Siegfried keeps trying to understand what’s wrong with this goat that its owner claims is lame.—
Alice Burton,
Vulture,
9 Feb. 2026
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With about a year left until the next mayoral election, the attacks from Johnson’s opponents attempting to preemptively paint him as a lame-duck mayor could also turn off candidates worried about job stability, but their contract specifics would vary by agency.—
Alice Yin,
Chicago Tribune,
4 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Deficient.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deficient. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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