1. insufficiency(n = noun.state) inadequacy - a lack of competence; "pointed out the insufficiencies in my report"; "juvenile offenses often reflect an inadequacy in the parents"
is a kind of failing, weakness
2. insufficiency(n = noun.state) - (pathology) inability of a bodily part or organ to function normally;
is a kind of inability, unfitness
has particulars: cardiac insufficiency, coronary insufficiency
3. insufficiency(n = noun.attribute) deficiency, inadequacy - lack of an adequate quantity or number; "the inadequacy of unemployment benefits"
is a kind of amount
has particulars: exiguity, leanness, meagerness, meagreness, poorness, scantiness, scantness, deficit, shortage, shortfall, scarceness, scarcity, slenderness
Antonym: sufficiency
Derived form adjective insufficient1
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." [1913 Webster]
2. Lack of power or skill; inability; incapacity; incompetency; as, the insufficiency of a man for an office. [1913 Webster]
insufficiency, n.
1 the condition of being insufficient.
2 Med. the inability of an organ to perform its normal function (renal insufficiency).
Etymology:
ME f. LL insufficientia (as INSUFFICIENT)
N insufficiency, inadequacy, inadequateness, incompetence, deficiency, imperfection, shortcoming, paucity, stint, scantiness, none to spare, bare subsistence, scarcity, dearth, want, need, lack, poverty, exigency, inanition, starvation, famine, drought, dole, mite, pittance, short allowance, short commons, half rations, banyan day, emptiness, poorness, depletion, vacancy, flaccidity, ebb tide, low water, a beggarly account of empty boxes, indigence, insolvency, drain of resources, impoverish, stint, put on short allowance, do insufficiently, scotch the snake, Adj, insufficient, inadequate, too little, not enough, unequal to, incompetent, weighed in the balance and found wanting, perfunctory, deficient, wanting imperfect, ill-furnished, ill-provided, ill- stored, ill-off, slack, at a low ebb, empty, vacant, bare, short of, out of, destitute of, devoid of, bereft of, denuded of, dry, drained, unprovided, unsupplied, unfurnished, unreplenished, unfed, unstored, untreasured, empty-handed, meager, poor, thin, scrimp, sparing, spare, stinted, starved, starving, halfstarved, famine-stricken, famished, jejune, scant, scarce, not to be had, not to be had for love or money, not to be had at any price, scurvy, stingy, at the end of one's tether, without resources, in want, in debt, insufficiently, in default of, for want of, failing, semper avarus eget.
N incompleteness, deficiency, short measure, shortcoming, insufficiency, imperfection, immaturity, half measures, defect, deficit, defalcation, omission, caret, shortage, interval, break, noncompletion, missing link, missing piece, missing part, gap, hole, lacuna, incomplete, imperfect, unfinished, uncompleted &c (complete), defective, deficient, wanting, lacking, failing, in default, in arrear, short of, hollow, meager, lame, halfand-half, perfunctory, sketchy, crude, mutilated, garbled, docked, lopped, truncated, in progress, in hand, going on, proceeding, incompletely, by halves, caetera desunt, caret.
N nonpayment, default, defalcation, protest, repudiation, application of the sponge, whitewashing, insolvency, bankruptcy, failure, insufficiency, run upon a bank, overdrawn account, waste paper bonds, dishonored bills, protested bills, bogus check, bogus cheque, rubber check, bankrupt, insolvent, debtor, lame duck, man of straw, welsher, stag, defaulter, levanter, not paying, non-paying, non-performing, in debt, behindhand, in arrear, behind in payments, in arrears, beggared, unable to make both ends meet, minus, worse than nothing, worthless, insolvent, bankrupt, in the gazette, gazetted, unpaid, gratis, unremunerated.
N shortcoming, failure, falling short, default, defalcation, leeway, labor in vain, no go, incompleteness, imperfection, insufficiency, noncompletion, failure, unreached, deficient, short, short of, minus, out of depth, perfunctory, within the mark, within the compass, within the bounds, behindhand, re infecta, to no purpose, for from it, the bubble burst.
cardiac insufficiency, coronary insufficiency, renal insufficiency