insufficiency
/ɪnsəˈfɪʃənsi/noun
insufficiency is spelled I-N-S-U-F-F-I-C-I-E-N-C-Y: 13 letters and 5 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 42,145th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, insufficiency means “The lack of sufficiency: a shortage, the state of having or being not enough (of something)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of insufficiency is insufficiencies.
How many letters and syllables are in insufficiency?
| Letters | 13: I-N-S-U-F-F-I-C-I-E-N-C-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 42,145th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is insufficiency?
Insufficiency appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 42,145th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce insufficiency?
- /ɪnsəˈfɪʃənsi/
Insufficiency has 5 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-insufficiency.oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of insufficiency
- insufficiencies plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does insufficiency mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The lack of sufficiency: a shortage, the state of having or being not enough (of something).
Near-synonyms: deficiency (broadly synonymous), inadequacy
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Insufficiency in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the lack of sufficiency; a shortage or inadequacy:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | insuffisance, déficience |
| German | Insuffizienz |
| Portuguese | insuficiência |
| Spanish | insuficiencia |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does insufficiency come from?
From in- + sufficiency.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).