lack
/læk/noun, verb
lack is spelled L-A-C-K: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 83 times per million words in written English, the 1,272nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, lack means “A deficiency or need (of something desirable or necessary); an absence, want, dearth” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of lack is lacks.
How many letters and syllables are in lack?
| Letters | 4: L-A-C-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 83 times per million words; the 1,272nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is lack?
Lack appears 83 times per million words in written English, the 1,272nd 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 lack?
- US /læk/
Lack has one syllable (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-lack.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-lack.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with lack
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: lakh.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with lack?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as lack from its last stressed vowel (/æk/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: calk.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of lack
- lacks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- lacking participle, present
- lacked participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does lack mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A deficiency or need (of something desirable or necessary); an absence, want, dearth.
It is a question of money, or lack of same.
- 2
obsoleteA defect or failing; moral or spiritual degeneracy.
verb
- 1
To be without, not to have, to need, to require.
My life lacks excitement.
- 2
To be short (of or for something).
He'll never lack for company while he's got all that money.
- 3
obsoleteTo be in want.
- 4
obsoleteTo see the deficiency in (someone or something); to find fault with, to malign, reproach.
- 5
To be off one's guard.
His opps caught him lacking.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Lack in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | manque, défaut, absence , manquer |
| German | Mangel , mangeln, fehlen, entbehren |
| Portuguese | falta, carência, deficiência, penúria, escassez , faltar |
| Spanish | falta, carencia, penuria, escasez , faltar, carecer |
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 lack come from?
From Middle English lack, lakke, lak, from Old English *læc (“deficiency, lack, want”), from Proto-West Germanic *lak, from Proto-Germanic *laką, *lakaz (“slackness”), from Proto-Germanic *lakaz (“limp, slack, loose, low”), related to *lak(k)ōną (“to blame, reproach”), from Proto-Indo-European *lok-néh₂-. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Lak (“lack”), Middle Low German lack, lak (“lack”), Dutch lak (“lack, deficiency, calumny”), Icelandic lakur (“lacking”). Related also to Middle Dutch laken (“to blame, lack”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).