Sentence examples for a dire lack from inspiring English sources

The result was a dire lack of competition, especially in humdrum services for the humble.

For there is a dire lack of oomph in most current interior design, whether ultramodern or traditional, calming or glamorous.

Beyond Lamia, the movie suffers from a dire lack of strong, clear-cut characters, with one outrageous exception.

He spoke vaguely of the "inner strength" found in centuries of Russian history and bemoaned "a dire lack of spiritual ties".

But now the effort risks failing all over again because of a dire lack of helicopters, a prime cause of the peacekeeping failure to date.

While app availability for Android smartphones has caught up with Apple's iPhone, there's a dire lack of good Android apps optimised for full-sized tablets.

A study by the World Bank in 2004, when warlords held sway in most of Somalia, found that local entrepreneurs had discovered a way of getting round the dire lack of a functioning electricity grid, payment system or metering.

But the news that two intimate shows like "Wit," now at the 99-seat MCC Theater in Chelsea, and "This Is Our Youth," at the 108-seat Second Stage on the Upper West Side, are considering a risky leap to Broadway, without major stars, underscores the dire lack of available Off Broadway theaters.

I found this irresistible, at the time, because it mirrored some of my Oxford tutorials, during which my tutor continually challenged me with various torments designed to make me – a naive colonial in his eyes – feel uncomfortable, and perhaps to confess my dire lack of (English) sophistication.

But the dire lack of affordable housing affects everyone in the region.

And anyone who raises the alarm is branded hysterical, right-wing, nit-picking or in dire lack of perspective.