How to say "lacking" in Japanese

• 乏しいとぼしいJLPT N1approx.Common
  i-adjectiveCovers the sense of 'lacking' as meagre, scarce or limited in supply. Use it for resources, experience or opportunities that exist but in insufficient amount, e.g. funds or evidence being scarce.
  この国くにには石油せきゆが乏とぼしい。↗

  Oil is scarce in this country.
• 貧しいまずしいJLPT N3approx.Common
  i-adjectiveMeans lacking or poor both in quantity and in quality, often with a nuance of poverty or deprivation. Fits describing thin content, meagre diets, or people and regions that are materially poor.
• 希薄きはくCommon
  na-adjective, nounDescribes abstract things as lacking, insubstantial or tenuous — enthusiasm, consideration, substance, or a thin link between things. It treats the quality as present only faintly or almost absent.
• 足らずたらずCommon
  suffixMeans insufficient or lacking in the sense of falling short of a required amount. It is essentially a numeric or counting notion, so it is seldom the word you want for vague 'lacking' senses; prefer it when something does not reach a needed figure.
  彼かれのビジネスプランは立派りっぱだけど、勘定かんじょうあって銭ぜに足たらず、という気きもするけどね。↗

  His business plan looks good on paper but I get the feeling it would never work in practice.

Choose 「乏しい」 for meagre or scarce supply, 「貧しい」 for poverty of quality as well as quantity, 希薄 for absent or diluted abstract qualities, and 「足らず」 for falling short of a needed number or amount.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 乏しいとぼしいmeagre
• なき-less
• 足りないたりないinsufficient
• 足らないたらないinsufficient
• 貧しいまずしいlacking (quantity and quality-wise)
• 没ぼつlacking
• 希薄きはくlacking (enthusiasm, consideration, substance, etc.)
• 足らずたらずinsufficient
• も一つもひとつ(not) quite
• もう一つもうひとつ(not) quite