lack resilience

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "lack resilience" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe a person, organization, or system that does not have the ability to recover quickly from difficulties or adapt to change. Example: "In times of crisis, those who lack resilience may struggle to cope with the challenges they face."

✓ Grammatically correct

News & Media

Science

Formal & Business

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

9 human-written examples

If a country can't discern a moral purpose in its foreign policy, it will lack resilience.

The New York Times

The children who are not mentally healthy, she says, are those who find everything that happens to them completely overwhelming and lack resilience.

The Guardian

Last week, 44 per cent of leading employers complained of having to organise catch-up sessions for graduates on basic numeracy, literacy or IT and, more tellingly, 61 per cent were concerned that school leavers lack resilience and "self-management skills" – such as initiative, solving basic problems, communication and timekeeping.

Independent

Some of these plastics are porous and lack resilience and must thus be used with carefully (Faille and Carpentier 2009).

International Journal of Food Contamination

Aside from the physical laws limiting the applicability of small satellites to missions like missile warning, the one thing all commercial space systems have in common today is that they lack resilience.

Forbes

While livelihood resilience has been framed primarily as positive attributes in our disaster vulnerability framework, some societal attributes continue to lack resilience, such as the exclusion of women from major decisions and the inability to reduce many dimensions of susceptibility to risk.

International Journal of Disaster Risk Science

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

51 human-written examples

Hull lacks resilience.

The Guardian

Ms. Norman does not lack warmth, but in the end, she lacks resilience.

The New York Times

Warner, who has never lacked resilience or persistence, has been overlooked before.

The New York Times - Sports

Students often see the word as a synonym for strength, and therefore feel that lacking resilience is a sign of weakness.

The Guardian

This belated recovery should not obscure that the economy lacks resilience, the OECD argues, and takes longer than its peers do to rebound from economic setbacks.

The Economist

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

When describing systemic issues, use "lack resilience" to highlight a fundamental weakness that prevents recovery or adaptation to change. For example, "The infrastructure lacks resilience, making it vulnerable to natural disasters."

Common error

Avoid using "lack resilience" in contexts where simple adaptability is sufficient. The phrase implies a deeper, more systemic inability to recover, not just a temporary setback.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "lack resilience" functions as a descriptor, indicating an absence of the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. As shown by Ludwig, it's used to point out deficiencies in systems, individuals, or organizations.

Expression frequency: Uncommon

Frequent in

News & Media

33%

Science

50%

Formal & Business

17%

Less common in

Wiki

0%

Academia

0%

Encyclopedias

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

The phrase "lack resilience" is grammatically correct and serves to describe an absence of the ability to recover quickly from difficulties, as affirmed by Ludwig. While relatively uncommon, it is found across various contexts, including news, scientific, and business domains. Ludwig’s examples show it is often used to describe systems or entities needing improvement in their capacity to adapt or recover. Related phrases include "exhibit vulnerability" and "struggle to adapt". When using this phrase, ensure it accurately reflects a systemic inability to recover, rather than a temporary setback.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

be unable to bounce back

Focuses on the inability to recover quickly from setbacks.

lack the capacity to recover

Indicates an inability to return to a normal state after a change or difficulty.

display a lack of robustness

Highlights the absence of strength and health, or the ability to withstand difficult conditions.

exhibit vulnerability

Focuses on showing a state of being easily harmed or affected.

demonstrate fragility

Highlights the quality of being easily broken or damaged, whether physically or metaphorically.

struggle to adapt

Emphasizes the difficulty in adjusting to new conditions or environments.

be deficient in hardiness

Focuses on the lack of physical and mental endurance.

show susceptibility

Emphasizes a predisposition to be affected by something negative.

be easily overwhelmed

Highlights the tendency to be overcome by stress or pressure.

have limited coping mechanisms

Highlights the absence of effective strategies for dealing with difficulties.

FAQs

How can I use "lack resilience" in a sentence?

You can use "lack resilience" to describe systems, people, or organizations that struggle to recover from setbacks. For example: "The economy "lacks resilience" in the face of global financial shocks."

What's the difference between "lack resilience" and "vulnerable"?

"Vulnerable" indicates susceptibility to harm, while "lack resilience" implies an inability to recover after harm occurs. Something can be vulnerable without necessarily lacking resilience, and vice versa.

What can I say instead of "lack resilience"?

You can use alternatives like "exhibit vulnerability", "demonstrate fragility", or "struggle to adapt" depending on the context.

Is it better to say "lack of resilience" or "lack resilience"?

Both are grammatically correct, but "lack of resilience" is more common and may sound more natural in some contexts. "Lack resilience" is also acceptable, particularly in more concise or technical writing.