Deficient
[dɪ'fɪʃ(ə)nt] or [dɪ'fɪʃnt]
Definition
(adj.) inadequate in amount or degree; 'a deficient education'; 'deficient in common sense'; 'lacking in stamina'; 'tested and found wanting' .
(adj.) falling short of some prescribed norm; 'substandard housing' .
Editor: Timmy--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Wanting, to make up completeness; wanting, as regards a requirement; not sufficient; inadequate; defective; imperfect; incomplete; lacking; as, deficient parts; deficient estate; deficient strength; deficient in judgment.
Editor: Patrick
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. Defective, insufficient, imperfect, incomplete, not full, not perfect.
Checked by Alyson
Synonyms and Antonyms
[See DEFECTIVE]
Checked by Evan
Definition
adj. wanting.—n. Defic′iency (sometimes Defic′ience) defect.—adv. Defic′iently.—ns. Defic′ientness; Def′icit deficiency esp. of revenue as compared with expenditure.
Inputed by Elizabeth
Examples
- I never thought Mr. Darcy so deficient in the _appearance_ of it as you used to do. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- A deficient, ill-tempered, lowering, stupid fellow. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- I am happy you approved, said Emma, smiling; but I hope I am not often deficient in what is due to guests at Hartfield. Jane Austen. Emma.
- You are extremely deficient in your facts. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- She was very pretty and not, I think, deficient in natural abilities, though it is really very good of me to say so; for she could not endure me! Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- I am deficient in self-confidence and decision, she said at last. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- She must be confident here, for God knows, she felt rejected and deficient enough elsewhere. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Bingley was by no means deficient, but Darcy was clever. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- In the Ateuchus or sacred beetle of the Egyptians, they are totally deficient. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- I hope, Marianne, continued Elinor, you do not consider him as deficient in general taste. Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- How could I be so deficient in good taste? Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- If he change at all he can only change for the worse, for we cannot suppose him to be deficient either in virtue or beauty. Plato. The Republic.
- She was, at such crises, sadly deficient in finished manner, though she had once been at school a year. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Caddy was not at all deficient in natural affection for her mother, but mentioned this with tears as an undeniable fact, which I am afraid it was. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- I always have been deficient in those qualities. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Why, it has been asked, if instinct be variable, has it not granted to the bee the ability to use some other material when wax was deficient? Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- If he were deficient there, nothing should make amends for it. Jane Austen. Emma.
- It was being very deficient. Jane Austen. Emma.
- Besides this, he was neither uneducated nor deficient. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- Not to be deficient in interest, Clennam asked what he might be doing there? Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- It only shows her being deficient in something herself--sense or feeling. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- They will not be deficient in wit and _na?veté_; there is so much sparkle, and so little art in her soul? Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- His skin was so unwholesomely deficient in the natural tinge, that he looked as though, if he were cut, he would bleed white. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- No, said Mr. Knightley, nearly at the same time; you are not often deficient; not often deficient either in manner or comprehension. Jane Austen. Emma.
- A virtue in which few Englishmen are deficient, observes Mr. Tulkinghorn. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- My footman would have had her brought in by force; but force was the very thing in which the most particlerst man as is was most deficient. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
Inputed by Elizabeth