What does carecer in Spanish mean?

What is the meaning of the word carecer in Spanish? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use carecer in Spanish.

The word carecer in Spanish means lack, not have, have a clean record, be unimportant, be insignificant, lack the necessary qualities, lack sustenance, lack food, be invalid, lack courage, lack bravery, be worthless, be outdated, be out of date. To learn more, please see the details below.

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Meaning of the word carecer

lack, not have

verbo intransitivo (no tener algo)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
Carecía del valor necesario para afrontar la situación.
He lacked the courage needed to face up to the situation.

have a clean record

locución verbal (sin historial penal)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Los aspirantes al empleo deben carecer de antecedentes.
The job applicants should have a clean record.

be unimportant, be insignificant

locución verbal (no importar)

Ese asunto carece de importancia, sigamos adelante.
This matter is unimportant; let's move forward.

lack the necessary qualities

locución verbal (no servir)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
El postulante carece de las cualidades necesarias para el empleo.
The applicant lacks the necessary qualities for the job.

lack sustenance, lack food

locución verbal (pasar hambre)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
La familia carece de sustento y vive en condiciones de extrema pobreza.
The family lacks food and lives in extreme poverty.

be invalid

locución verbal (documento: no apto)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
El certificado carece de validez sin la firma de un juez.

lack courage, lack bravery

locución verbal (persona: cobarde)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Juan carece de valor para decirle a María lo que siente.
Juan lacks the courage to tell Maria how he feels.

be worthless

locución verbal (que no importa, vale)

Es una baratija y carece de valor.
It's a piece of junk and it's worthless.

be outdated, be out of date

locución verbal (caduco)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
La factura carece de vigencia.
The bill is outdated (or: out of date).

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So now that you know more about the meaning of carecer in Spanish, you can learn how to use them through selected examples and how to read them. And remember to learn the related words that we suggest. Our website is constantly updating with new words and new examples so you can look up the meanings of other words you don't know in Spanish.

Do you know about Spanish

Spanish (español), also known as Castilla, is a language of the Iberian-Romance group of the Romance languages, and the 4th most common language in the world according to Some sources, while others list it as a 2nd or 3rd most common language. It is the mother tongue of about 352 million people, and is spoken by 417 million people when adding its speakers as a language. sub (estimated in 1999). Spanish and Portuguese have very similar grammar and vocabulary; The number of similar vocabulary of these two languages is up to 89%. Spanish is the primary language of 20 countries around the world. It is estimated that the total number of speakers of Spanish is between 470 and 500 million, making it the second most widely spoken language in the world by number of native speakers.