scarcity
Other forms: scarcities
If there is a cupcake scarcity in your kitchen, there are hardly any cupcakes around, and you're not sure that any will be appearing any time soon.
The noun scarcity comes from the adjective scarce, which means "restricted in quantity or availability." So scarcity is the state of there being very little of something. During a war when shipping gets interrupted, there might be a fuel scarcity, pushing people to carpool or ride bikes instead of driving. If you're in a room full of super boring people, you might say there's a scarcity of good conversation.
-
a small and inadequate amountsynonyms: scarceness
- MLA
- APA
- Chicago
Vocabulary lists containing scarcity
American Heritage Dictionaries normally feature about 70,000 entries. From that multitude, the editors have chosen 100 words that are neither obscure nor outlandish that could give middle schoolers more aplomb and aptitude in their verbal encounters. If you're not sure whether that is something you need, study this list. Words selected by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionaries. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
In this comic adventure, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a juvenile detention center where the inmates spend their days digging mysterious holes. But what on earth are they looking for?
