Need another word that means the same as “deficient”? Find 22 synonyms and 30 related words for “deficient” in this overview.
The synonyms of “Deficient” are: insufficient, lacking, wanting, inferior, substandard, defective, inadequate, limited, poor, scant, faulty, flawed, imperfect, impaired, shoddy, scrappy, sketchy, weak, unsound, second-rate, shabby, incomplete
According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “deficient” as an adjective can have the following definitions:
| defective | Markedly subnormal in structure or function or intelligence or behavior. I returned the appliance because it was defective. |
| faulty | (of reasoning and other mental processes) mistaken or misleading because of flaws. Faulty logic. |
| flawed | Having a blemish or flaw. A flawed diamond. |
| impaired | Diminished in strength, quality, or utility. Impaired driving charges. |
| imperfect | (of a tense) denoting a past action in progress but not completed at the time in question. Drainage here is imperfect. |
| inadequate | Of insufficient quantity to meet a need. A sad solitary inadequate man. |
| incomplete | Not yet finished. The analysis remains incomplete. |
| inferior | Of low or inferior quality. Inferior goods. |
| insufficient | Of a quantity not able to fulfill a need or requirement. There was insufficient evidence to convict him. |
| lacking | (of a quality) absent. There was something lacking in our marriage. |
| limited | Not unlimited. I think he is a very limited man. |
| poor | Lacking sufficient money to live at a standard considered comfortable or normal in a society. The country had a poor economy. |
| scant | Barely amounting to a specified number or quantity. She weighed a scant two pounds. |
| scrappy | Full of fighting spirit. He had a scrappy New York temperament. |
| second-rate | Moderate to inferior in quality. |
| shabby | Mean and unworthy and despicable. A shabby fellow in slippers and an undershirt. |
| shoddy | Cheap and shoddy Judith Crist. A shoddy misuse of the honours system. |
| sketchy | (of a picture) resembling a sketch; consisting of outline without much detail. Once the story does come out the fact that you tried to hide it will seem sketchy. |
| substandard | Below the usual or required standard. Substandard spellings. |
| unsound | Physically unsound or diseased. An unsound foundation. |
| wanting | Inadequate in amount or degree. The English batting technique has been found wanting. |
| weak | Relating to or denoting the weakest of the known kinds of force between particles which acts only at distances less than about 10 cm is very much weaker than the electromagnetic and the strong interactions and conserves neither strangeness parity nor isospin. A weak plot. |
| absent | Lost in thought; showing preoccupation. Most pupils were absent from school at least once. |
| adequacy | The state or quality of being adequate. He questioned the adequacy of the usual sentimental interpretation of the Golden Rule. |
| cramped | Inhibiting the development of someone or something. Trying to bring children up in cramped high rise apartments. |
| deficiency | The amount by which something, especially revenue, falls short; a deficit. A budget deficiency of 96 billion. |
| inadequate | (of a person) unable to deal with a situation or with life. I felt like a fraud inadequate to the task. |
| incompleteness | The state of being crude and incomplete and imperfect. The study was criticized for incompleteness of data but it stimulated further research. |
| insufficient | Not enough; inadequate. There was insufficient evidence to convict him. |
| lacking | Not available or in short supply. Adequate resources are sadly lacking. |
| limited | Denoting a limited company used after a company name. A limited circle of friends. |
| meager | Deficient in amount or quality or extent. Meager resources. |
| meagerly | To a meager degree or in a meager manner. These voices are meagerly represented at the conference. |
| measly | Contemptibly small in amount. A measly tip. |
| minus | On the negative side or lower end of a scale. Minus five. |
| paucity | An insufficient quantity or number. A paucity of information. |
| pittance | A very small or inadequate amount of money. He paid his workers a pittance. |
| rare | Not widely distributed. Total eclipses are rare events. |
| rarely | Not often. The rarely fine Sheraton bookcase. |
| rareness | Noteworthy scarcity. |
| rarity | Something unusual — perhaps worthy of collecting. The rarity of the condition. |
| scant | Limit in quality or quantity. A scant cup of sugar. |
| scanty | Short underpants for women or children (usually used in the plural. They paid whatever they could out of their scanty wages to their families. |
| scarce | Scarcely. Would have scarce arrived before she would have found some excuse to leave. |
| short | Of a broker position in the market etc buying or based on short stocks or other securities or commodities. Money is short. |
| sometimes | Occasionally, rather than all of the time. Sometimes I want to do things on my own. |
| sparse | Not dense. Trees were sparse. |
| subsist | Remain in force or effect. The court may treat a contract as still subsisting. |
| substandard | Falling short of some prescribed norm. Substandard spellings. |
| undermanned | Inadequate in number of workers or assistants etc. |
| undersized | Of less than the usual size. The undersized cubs may not survive the winter. |
| wanting | Inadequate in amount or degree. Tested and found wanting. |
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