Word.ws English Dictionary

Synonyms of deficient

15 similar words

Another word for deficient is wanting. Other synonyms of deficient are awanting and lacking.

Synonyms and similar words for deficient

adjectiveLacking something essential; often construed with in.

  • absent
  • poor in
  • void of
  • awantingMissing; wanting; deficient or absent.
  • bereft of
  • deficient of
  • deprived of
  • destitute of
  • devoid of
  • lackingMissing or not having enough of (a good quality, etc).
  • leer
  • robbed of
  • shorn of
  • stripped of
  • wantingDeficient.

Meaning of deficient

  1. adjective Lacking something essential; often construed with in.
  2. adjective Insufficient or inadequate in amount.
  3. adjective Of a number n, Having the sum of divisors σ(n) < 2n, or, equivalently, the sum of proper divisors (or aliquot sum) s(n) < n.

Full definition of deficient

deficient in other languages

Questions about synonyms of deficient

What is another word for deficient?
Deficient has 15 synonyms on Word.ws, such as wanting, awanting and lacking.
What does deficient mean?
Deficient means lacking something essential; often construed with in.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: deficient (page history and authors) and the entries of the words listed. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws grouped the synonyms and antonyms by meaning and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “Synonyms of deficient.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/synonyms/deficient. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.