Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun shortage

2 senses of shortage

Sense 1
deficit, shortage, shortfall -- (the property of being an amount by which something is less than expected or required; "new blood vessels bud out from the already dilated vascular bed to make up the nutritional deficit")
       => insufficiency, inadequacy, deficiency -- (lack of an adequate quantity or number; "the inadequacy of unemployment benefits")

Sense 2
dearth, famine, shortage -- (an acute insufficiency)
       => lack, deficiency, want -- (the state of needing something that is absent or unavailable; "there is a serious lack of insight into the problem"; "water is the critical deficiency in desert regions"; "for want of a nail the shoe was lost")