dearth
Americannoun
-
an inadequate supply; scarcity; lack.
There is a dearth of good engineers.
- Synonyms:
- insufficiency, paucity, want, shortage
- Antonyms:
- surplus, sufficiency, plenty, abundance
-
scarcity and dearness of food; famine.
noun
Usage
What does dearth mean? A dearth of something is a lack or scarcity of it.The word is especially used in serious situations in which there is a shortage of something important. It is usually followed by of and the thing that is lacking, as in a dearth of resources or a dearth of clean water. Much less commonly, dearth is used in a more specific way to refer to a scarcity of food—a famine.Example: The dearth of teachers has resulted in large class sizes.
Etymology
Origin of dearth
First recorded in 1200–50, dearth is from the Middle English word derthe. See dear 1, -th 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Finding their conversations therapeutic—and perceiving a dearth of literature on mistakes—they have written “From Mistakes to Meaning.”
Didn’t happen, of course, and today we are more concerned about a birth dearth instead.
From Barron's
Didn’t happen, of course, and today we are more concerned about a birth dearth instead.
From Barron's
Wall Street isn’t overly concerned about a potential dearth of tech IPOs this year.
Artificial intelligence could change the world but the dearth of women in the booming sector will undermine pledges for inclusive technology, top computer scientist Wendy Hall told AFP on Friday.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
