lacking in depth
- adjective
:
superficial
- The documentary was interesting, but it was lacking in depth and failed to explore the main issues thoroughly.
Examples
-
The story is lacking in depth, and everything about it is too ostentatious.
Academic text (2008) -
The trend is to convey the news in the form of emotion-generating entertainment lacking in depth, detail, and balance.
Academic text (2005) -
If your relationships are superficial and lacking in depth or intimacy, you will feel lonely despite being in the company of others.
Blog text (21) -
His analysis of the poem was lacking in depth and didn't capture the author's true intentions.
-
The article provided a basic overview of the topic but was lacking in depth and missed important nuances.
Synonyms
5
5.3
Too small in amount or size for what is needed
1
9.5
Hard to understand because it lacks clear facts or examples
1
7.3
Not having much feeling or real meaning
Simple and having few details
Something that is simple and without much decoration
Not giving clear details that help you imagine something
Not complete and missing important parts or details
Antonyms
How Detailed
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'not providing enough detail or insight' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'lacking' (having too little) with the prepositional pattern 'in' + 'depth' (degree of understanding). The construction follows the common compositional pattern 'lacking in X' meaning 'not having sufficient X', which is cross-linguistically familiar and should be clear to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.
Etymology
Lacking in depth paints the image of a shallow pool where you can see the bottom because it is lacking real depth. So when an idea or explanation is lacking in depth, it has little detail or insight and is 'superficial'.