resource shortage
Not enough materials
A resource shortage is a situation where demand for something exceeds its available supply—whether materials, labor, energy, or time.
Shortages may be absolute (the resource is genuinely depleted) or relative (it exists but isn't accessible or affordable): The chip shortage disrupted car manufacturing.
Resource shortages often trigger rationing, price increases, or substitution with alternatives.
- scarcityInsufficiency of something needed
- deficitAmount still owed
- lackDeficiency or absence
- depletionReduction of supply
- supply chainProduct delivery infrastructure
rationing · famine · drought · crisis · hoarding · demand · supply · bottleneck · allocation · emergency · rations · running low · running on empty · empty shelves · panic buying · scrabbling · bare · bare bones
- shortages
- deficienciesdeficiency, deficit, lack, insufficiency, shortfall
- workplace problemspoor communication, miscommunication, missed deadlines, budget overruns, scope creep
- bottleneckschokepoint, congestion, traffic jam, gridlock, narrow passage
- energy depletionfatigue, exhaustion, tiredness, burnout, weariness
- logistics problemsshipping delay, late delivery, lost shipment, delayed delivery, transit delay
resource shortageabundance
Ample supply, overflowing
surplus · plenty · oversupply · glut · plethora
resource shortageoversupply
Excess beyond demand
surplus · overproduction · overabundance · stockpile · resource boom
resource shortagesufficiency
State of being enough
prosperity · affluence · plenitude · adequacy · saturation
resource, shortage, resources, resourced, resourceful, resourcefulness, resourceless, resourcing, short