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.
In the Parque Central, Cubans asked for loose ibuprofen and imodium, as medicine grows scarce.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026
Helium users, who mostly lock in supply through long-term contracts, are now scrambling for scarce short-term spot market cargoes, a bidding war that has caused prices to more than double, market watchers say.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026
The new law will put an end to "bone ash apartments", which have risen in popularity as spaces in cemeteries remain scarce.
From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026
“Energy-importing nations need dollars to compete for scarce and expensive energy resources,” he said — adding that, in part, “they’re selling assets to raise dollars to buy those resources.”
From MarketWatch • Mar. 29, 2026
Most of it is a fragile land base where the elevation is high, rainfall is scarce, and drought is a part of life.
From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
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.
