1
as in incomplete
lacking some necessary part
a diet deficient in calcium can lead to weak bones
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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
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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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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of deficient
The Lakers trailed for the majority of the game, with their biggest deficient being about 28 points.
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Nina Turner, Newsweek, 31 Oct. 2024
Conversely, deficient skills can leave gaps in team performance, leading to frustration and delays in achieving objectives.
—Gamze Acar Bayraktaroglu, Forbes, 28 Oct. 2024
This Tuesday's particular presidential election is also the most important election of our lifetimes for a simple additional reason: Harris is the most ideologically left-wing, intellectually deficient, and wildly unprepared presidential candidate in the nation's history.
—Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 1 Nov. 2024
In the early seventies, when addicts were viewed as criminals or morally deficient, Gruppo Abele became a nonjudgmental refuge for homeless people and juvenile offenders.
—D. T. Max, The New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for deficient 
Nina Turner, Newsweek, 31 Oct. 2024
Conversely, deficient skills can leave gaps in team performance, leading to frustration and delays in achieving objectives.
—Gamze Acar Bayraktaroglu, Forbes, 28 Oct. 2024
This Tuesday's particular presidential election is also the most important election of our lifetimes for a simple additional reason: Harris is the most ideologically left-wing, intellectually deficient, and wildly unprepared presidential candidate in the nation's history.
—Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 1 Nov. 2024
In the early seventies, when addicts were viewed as criminals or morally deficient, Gruppo Abele became a nonjudgmental refuge for homeless people and juvenile offenders.
—D. T. Max, The New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for deficient
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deficient
Adjective
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City officials have declared the project application was incomplete — which the developer denies — and the issue could become fodder for state intervention or lawsuits.Dan Walters, The Mercury News, 12 Dec. 2024
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This stagnation is partly due to the lengthy delivery times for these facilities, meaning many of the largest projects are still incomplete.Courtney Fingar, Forbes, 12 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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This time difference is unacceptable and the cause of many breaches.Austin Gadient, Forbes, 13 Dec. 2024
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During Tuesday’s meeting, board members agreed that Morris’ remark was unacceptable.Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 12 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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And two, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with Chandler’s A-to-Z bookends!Bob Sassone, Vulture, 19 Dec. 2024
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Begiristain is being shown up not for signing bad players but for letting the wrong ones leave.Zak Garner-Purkis, Forbes, 19 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Unfortunately, not all institutions have prioritized this need, relying instead on outdated models with flawed systems, inadequate supports, and unnecessary hurdles that impede student success.Andy Biggs, Newsweek, 24 Dec. 2024
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Some may say that neglecting cybersecurity reflects inadequate governance and risk management, especially when companies don’t prioritize safeguarding data and operational systems.Jeffrey Wheatman, Forbes, 23 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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In many poor and densely populated neighborhoods across the country, people have access to free, unmetered electricity.Nasser Karimi and Jon Gambrell, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2024
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So this poor kid [who finished in last], this single guy, for a year had to have a Fathead of his buddy in boxers, a giant life-size Fathead above his bed.Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 13 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Even so, there are people who insist the Founding Fathers' idea of religious equality is insufficient.Benedict Cosgrove, Newsweek, 19 Dec. 2024
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What Anthropic’s experiments seem to show is that reinforcement learning is insufficient as a technique for creating reliably safe models, especially as those models get more advanced.Billy Perrigo, TIME, 18 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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As holidays go, however, Flag Day can feel a bit lame.Kevin Fisher-Paulson, San Francisco Chronicle, 8 June 2021
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My 11-year-old loved watching the pups roll balls and play a giant floor piano, but for non-dog owners (guilty as charged), parts of the series—like dressing dogs in little hats and outfits for a Parisian fashion show—feel lame.Tim Neville, Outside Online, 23 Nov. 2020
Adjective
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Their first tryst starts off like a bad porno with Samuel and Romy improvising a script that feels phony even to them.Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 24 Dec. 2024
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Real life is worse than the games After the bloodbath in the first game, the players vote by a narrow margin to end the games and leave without any money.Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 24 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near deficient
Cite this Entry
“Deficient.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deficient. Accessed 27 Dec. 2024.
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