Insufficiency

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Insufficiency \In`suf*fi"cien*cy\, n. [L. insufficientia: cf. F.
     insuffisance, whence OE. insuffisance. See {Insufficient}.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. The quality or state of being insufficient; lack of
        sufficiency; deficiency; inadequateness; as, the
        insufficiency of provisions, of an excuse, etc.


        [1913 Webster]
  
              The insufficiency of the light of nature is, by the
              light of Scripture, . . . fully supplied. --Hooker.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Lack of power or skill; inability; incapacity;
        incompetency; as, the insufficiency of a man for an
        office.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  insufficiency
       n 1: a lack of competence; "pointed out the insufficiencies in my
            report"; "juvenile offenses often reflect an inadequacy
            in the parents" [syn: {inadequacy}]
       2: (pathology) inability of a bodily part or organ to function
          normally
       3: lack of an adequate quantity or number; "the inadequacy of
          unemployment benefits" [syn: {inadequacy}, {deficiency}]
          [ant: {sufficiency}, {sufficiency}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  96 Moby Thesaurus words for "insufficiency":
     arrear, arrearage, arrears, asymmetry, baseness, contrariety,
     daintiness, decline, defalcation, default, defectiveness,
     deficiency, deficit, delicacy, delinquency, difference,
     diminutiveness, disability, disablement, disequilibrium, disparity,
     disproportion, disqualification, dissatisfactoriness, exiguity,
     exiguousness, failure, falling short, fewness, heterogeneity,
     imbalance, imbecility, imperfection, inability, inadequacy,
     inadmissibility, incapability, incapacitation, incapacity,
     incompetence, incompetency, inconsequentiality, inconsiderableness,
     indefensibility, inefficiency, ineptitude, inequality, inequity,
     infancy, inferiority, injustice, insignificance, intolerability,
     irregularity, legal incapacity, littleness, maladroitness,
     meagerness, meanness, mediocrity, minority, minuteness,
     moderateness, nonuniformity, objectionability, odds, overbalance,
     pettiness, picayunishness, puniness, scantiness, shabbiness,
     short measure, shortage, shortcoming, shortfall, slightness, slump,
     smallness, subnormality, tininess, triviality, unacceptability,
     unbalance, underage, undesirability, unevenness,
     unfair discrimination, unfitness, unimportance, unsatisfactoriness,
     unskillfulness, unsuitability, untenability, vulgarity, wardship
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  INSUFFICIENCY. What is not competent; not enough.