MEANING
Not having enough of something needed, or failing to meet a required standard.
Use it for
identifying an explanation missing an essential element; evaluating a method against an explicit adequacy standard; describing evidence insufficient for the claim it supportsIdentifies missing essentials or failure of an adequacy standard without treating mere difference as a flaw. Academic functions: Evidence, Evaluation, Research / Methodology.
Words that belong together
- deficient in evidence
- a deficient explanation
- methodologically deficient
On the page
The explanation is deficient in its treatment of alternative causes.
A method can be deficient for one research question while remaining adequate for another.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- deficient
Usage notes
Deficient in + missing element; also a deficient account. More deficient and most deficient are natural. Register: formal. Commonness: moderately common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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