scarce
Americanadjective
-
insufficient to satisfy the need or demand; not abundant.
Meat and butter were scarce during the war.
- Synonyms:
- deficient
- Antonyms:
- abundant
-
seldom met with; rare.
a scarce book.
- Synonyms:
- infrequent, uncommon
adverb
idioms
adjective
-
rarely encountered
-
insufficient to meet the demand
-
informal to go away, esp suddenly
adverb
Other Word Forms
- scarceness noun
- unscarce adjective
- unscarcely adverb
- unscarceness noun
Etymology
Origin of scarce
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English scars, from Old North French (e)scars, from Vulgar Latin excarpsus (unrecorded) “plucked out,” from Latin excerptus; excerpt
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.
"They have been flooded out of their homes and at this time of year, food is scarce," she said.
From BBC
When pyrrolysine is scarce, the same codon functions as a stop signal.
From Science Daily
She said that available rental properties in Dumfries and Galloway were extremely scarce.
From BBC
Many widely used photocatalyst metals, including ruthenium and iridium, are scarce and expensive.
From Science Daily
You only learn that when you get a professional job - but spaces are scarce for British managers in the Premier League, and they are dwindling in the Championship too.
From BBC
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.
