Scarce — meaning, pronunciation & more

Definition

deficient in quantity or number compared with the demand

only a very short time before; ; ; ; ; - W.B.Yeats

Pronunciation

🇺🇸American English

/skˈɛɹs/

🇬🇧British English

/skˈeəs/

🇮🇳Indian English

/skˈeəs/

1 syllable Say it as /skˈɛɹs/.

Examples

fresh vegetables were scarce during the drought
they could barely hear the speaker
we hardly knew them

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

just barely hardly scarcely

Antonyms

abundant

Parts of Speech

adjective	deficient in quantity or number compared with the demand “fresh vegetables were scarce during the drought”
adverb	only a very short time before; ; ; ; ; - W.B.Yeats “they could barely hear the speaker”

Word Forms

scarceness	noun	a small and inadequate amount
scarcity	noun	a small and inadequate amount

Around the World

Europe

🇩🇪German

spärlich

Mangel an Menge oder Anzahl im Vergleich zur Nachfrage

🇫🇷French

rare

insuffisant en quantité ou en nombre par rapport à la demande

🇪🇸Spanish

escaso

deficiente en cantidad o número en comparación con la demanda

🇮🇹Italian

scarso

carenti in quantità o numero rispetto alla domanda

🇳🇱Dutch

schaars

ontoereikend in hoeveelheid of aantal vergeleken met de vraag

🇵🇹Portuguese

escasso

deficiente em quantidade ou número em comparação com a demanda

🇷🇺Russian

скудный

дефицит по количеству или количеству по сравнению со спросом

India

🇮🇳Hindi

अपर्याप्त

मांग की तुलना में मात्रा या संख्या में कमी

🇧🇩Bengali

দুষ্প্রাপ্য

চাহিদার তুলনায় পরিমাণ বা সংখ্যার ঘাটতি

🇮🇳Tamil

பற்றாக்குறை

தேவையுடன் ஒப்பிடும்போது அளவு அல்லது எண்ணிக்கையில் குறைபாடு

🇮🇳Telugu

కొరత

డిమాండ్‌తో పోలిస్తే పరిమాణం లేదా సంఖ్యలో లోపం

🇮🇳Marathi

दुर्मिळ

मागणीच्या तुलनेत प्रमाण किंवा संख्येत कमतरता

🇮🇳Gujarati

દુર્લભ

માંગની સરખામણીમાં જથ્થા અથવા સંખ્યામાં ઉણપ

🇮🇳Kannada

ವಿರಳ

ಬೇಡಿಕೆಯೊಂದಿಗೆ ಹೋಲಿಸಿದರೆ ಪ್ರಮಾಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಅಥವಾ ಸಂಖ್ಯೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕೊರತೆಯಿದೆ

🇮🇳Malayalam

വിരളമായ

ഡിമാൻഡുമായി താരതമ്യപ്പെടുത്തുമ്പോൾ അളവിലോ എണ്ണത്തിലോ കുറവുണ്ട്

🇮🇳Punjabi

ਦੁਰਲੱਭ

ਮੰਗ ਦੇ ਮੁਕਾਬਲੇ ਮਾਤਰਾ ਜਾਂ ਸੰਖਿਆ ਵਿੱਚ ਕਮੀ

🇵🇰Urdu

نایاب

طلب کے مقابلے مقدار یا تعداد میں کمی

East & Southeast Asia

🇨🇳Chinese

稀缺

与需求相比数量或数量不足

🇯🇵Japanese

希少な

需要に比べて量または数が不足している

🇰🇷Korean

부족한

수요에 비해 수량이나 수가 부족함

🇻🇳Vietnamese

khan hiếm

thiếu về số lượng hoặc số lượng so với nhu cầu

🇹🇭Thai

ขาดแคลน

ปริมาณหรือจำนวนไม่เพียงพอเมื่อเทียบกับความต้องการ

🇮🇩Indonesian

langka

kekurangan kuantitas atau jumlah dibandingkan dengan permintaan

🇵🇭Filipino

kakaunti

kulang sa dami o bilang kumpara sa demand

🇲🇾Malay

terhad

kekurangan kuantiti atau bilangan berbanding dengan permintaan

Middle East

🇸🇦Arabic

نادر

نقص الكمية أو العدد مقارنة بالطلب

🇮🇷Persian

کمیاب

از نظر کمیت یا تعداد در مقایسه با تقاضا کمبود دارد

🇹🇷Turkish

kıt

talebe göre miktar veya sayı bakımından yetersiz

🇮🇱Hebrew

נָדִיר

חסר בכמות או במספר בהשוואה לביקוש

Test Yourself1 / 3

What is the primary definition of the word 'scarce'?

The primary meaning of 'scarce' is 'deficient in quantity or number compared with the demand'.

Which of the following sentences uses the word 'scarce' in a grammatically correct way?

Using 'scarce' in a noun/adjective form makes the first sentence correct.

In which domain is the word 'scarce' most likely to appear as standard vocabulary?

'scarce' is a standard word used primarily in general literature and formal communications.

Community Poll1 / 6

How often do you encounter the word 'scarce' in your daily reading?

Very Often

Occasionally

Rarely

Never

Do you find 'scarce' easy to spell?

Yes, very easy

Somewhat easy

A bit confusing

Extremely hard

In your opinion, does the word 'scarce' have a positive, neutral, or gloomy tone?

Positive

Neutral

Gloomy

Vibrant

Which age group is most likely to use 'scarce' in regular conversations?

Kids (3-12)

Teens (13-19)

Adults (20-60)

Seniors (60+)

How likely are you to use 'scarce' in a professional email?

Very likely

Somewhat likely

Not very likely

Never

Would you classify 'scarce' as formal, casual, or slang?

Formal

Casual

Slang

Archaic

Pick an option to see how others voted