inadequateness

noun

as in shortage
a falling short of an essential or desirable amount or number the inadequateness of our emergency food supplies should have been obvious

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for inadequateness
  1. shortage
  2. lack
  3. deficiency
Noun
  • The divergence is over whether the worker shortage is improving slowly or still getting worse, and what the Supreme Court should do about it.
    — Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026
  • Lights had been switched off to conserve electricity amid fuel shortages that have gripped Cuba since the beginning of the year.
    — Romina Ruiz-Goiriena, USA Today, 6 July 2026
Definition of shortage
Noun
  • Keli Gonzalez, a painter the museum commissioned, became frustrated by the lack of female representation.
    — Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 3 July 2026
  • The lack of a World Cup title is the one gap on his historic résumé.
    — Ashley Mowreader, NBC news, 3 July 2026
Definition of lack
Noun
  • The Lakers spent the first days of free agency addressing their shooting deficiencies.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 4 July 2026
  • Interveinal chlorosis and yellowing in new leaves can indicate an iron deficiency.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 3 July 2026
Definition of deficiency
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

inadequately
inadequateness
inadmissibility
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Inadequateness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inadequateness. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All