All words

lacuna

Meaning

An unfilled space or interval; a deficiency or interruption in a sequence, text, or object.

Examples by difficulty

Basic: Simple, everyday vocabulary — the easiest to read.

The old book lay open, its pages brittle. He traced a finger over the faded ink, a pang of loss hitting him. There, between two chapters, was a blank space, a noticeable lacuna where stories should have been. He felt a deep emptiness where the missing words should have filled him.

The old map showed no path where the river should have been. A gaping lacuna in the charted terrain left the explorers stranded, a stark emptiness where a clear route was expected. They stared at the blank space, the missing piece of their journey.

The old scientist stared at the faded map, a dark dread filling him. He'd followed every known current, but this whole stretch of ocean was a blank. A massive lacuna. It felt like a hole ripped in reality, and his deepest fears whispered about what might be hiding in that empty space.

My brain has a big lacuna where I'm supposed to remember my anniversary. I just stared blankly at my wife, hoping she wouldn't notice the vast, empty space where "June 7th" should have been. Oops.

My pet rock, Bartholomew, has a suspicious lacuna in his otherwise smooth surface. I suspect squirrels, those tiny bandits, are nibbling away at him, leaving this gap. It's a shocking deficiency, and I'm launching a full-scale investigation, complete with tiny magnifying glasses and strategically placed acorns.

Normal: Standard, everyday language.

He stared at the empty space on the shelf where the family photo used to be, a painful lacuna that echoed the silence in the house. It wasn't just a missing object; it was a sudden, aching gap where comfort and memory once resided.

The chronometer’s display flickered, a frustrating lacuna where the seconds should have been. Elias tapped the cracked glass, hoping to jolt the missing numbers back into place. He needed the precise timestamp for the celestial alignment; without it, the entire project hinged on this one, maddening gap.

The ancient star chart had a gaping lacuna where the constellation of the Weaver was supposed to be. It felt like a piece of history was just… gone. He traced the empty space, a frustration building; this interruption in the celestial map made understanding the full narrative impossible.

My dating history has a glaring lacuna right after "attempted to ask out the barista" and before "accidentally adopted three cats." It's a rather gaping hole where potential romance should be, filled instead with awkward silences and a growing collection of furballs.

My cat, Bartholomew, discovered a suspicious lacuna in the wall behind the antique armchair. Apparently, a rogue chipmunk had excavated a tunnel, leaving a perfectly circular void. Bartholomew spent an hour batting at it with one paw, utterly convinced he was combating the very concept of emptiness.

Advanced: Richer vocabulary that stretches an upper-level reader.

He searched the old journal, desperate for answers. Yet, crucial entries were missing, leaving a troubling lacuna where vital information should have been. This gap felt like a hollow ache, a profound absence that left him with more questions than he started with.

The archival scan revealed a significant lacuna in the chronometer’s operational logs, an unnerving gap where daily timekeeping records should have been. It wasn't just an omission; it felt like a void, a crucial missing piece that left the entire system’s integrity questionable.

The archival scan revealed a troubling lacuna in the sensor logs. Months of seismic activity were simply absent, a jarring gap in the otherwise meticulous record. Without that data, understanding the deep-earth tremors felt impossible, leaving a gnawing uncertainty about the volcano's true state.

The ancient manuscript, a chronicle of dragon naps, had a curious lacuna right before the section detailing "The Great Snorer's Lament." Scholars speculated it was a printing error, or perhaps a forgotten chapter on particularly dull clouds. Most amusingly, some suggested a scribe simply got bored.

My meticulously crafted miniature dirigible, destined for the International Gnome Racing circuit, suffered a critical structural lacuna when a rogue squirrel absconded with its entire aft stabilizing fin. The subsequent descent resembled a particularly enthusiastic belly-flop, leaving a rather significant, albeit fluffy, void where aerodynamic grace should have been.

Challenging: Rare, high-register vocabulary for serious word lovers.

He reread the historian's account, a gnawing unease escalating. There were significant gaps in the documentation, a troubling lacuna concerning the pivotal weeks of the insurrection. The entire narrative felt incomplete, a maddening void where vital events should have been.

The chronometer’s internal mechanisms, a bewildering array of miniature gears and springs, contained a puzzling lacuna. For weeks, the master horologist had meticulously examined its intricate workings, yet this persistent void, this inexplicable interruption in its otherwise flawless temporal progression, continued to elude his profound understanding.

The surveyor stared at the incomplete cadastral map, a gnawing unease settling in. A significant lacuna existed where the indigenous burial mound should have been, a stark deficiency in the plotted terrain. This omission rendered the entire provenance of the land tenuous and, frankly, distressing.

The esteemed cryptographer, after meticulously examining the ancient parchment, discovered a baffling lacuna where the crucial decryption key should have been. He hypothesized a mischievous poltergeist, or perhaps a particularly peckish badger, had absconded with the vital passage, leaving him utterly bereft of even a scintilla of progress.

The esteemed mycologist, a veritable polymath of fungal lore, meticulously cataloged his specimens, but a rather prodigious lacuna appeared in his meticulously ordered subterranean archive. He’d misplaced his entire prize-winning collection of bioluminescent stinkhorns, a veritable chasm in his otherwise impeccable oeuvre.

Difficulty

Advanced — Less frequent words that stretch an upper-level vocabulary.

Appears in

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