scarce

American  

[skairs] / skɛərs /

adjective

scarcer, scarcest

1. insufficient to satisfy the need or demand; not abundant.

   Meat and butter were scarce during the war.

   Synonyms:

   deficient

   Antonyms:

   abundant

2. seldom met with; rare.

   a scarce book.

   Synonyms:

   infrequent, uncommon

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adverb

1. scarcely.

idioms

1. make oneself scarce,

   1. to depart, especially suddenly.

   2. to stay away; avoid.

scarce British  

/ skɛəs /

adjective

1. rarely encountered

2. insufficient to meet the demand

3. informal to go away, esp suddenly

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adverb

1. archaic scarcely

scarce More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing scarce

• make oneself scarce

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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

As a child, she said, certain foods were so scarce that she had an apple for the first time only after moving to Panama.

From Los Angeles Times

This approach acknowledges that developing resilience is costly and helps ensure that scarce capital goes to the most vital choke points.

From The Wall Street Journal

It was in that position, in the early aughts, that Bonham first became immersed in the fierce disagreement over what to do with scarce water in the Klamath Basin — irrigate farms or protect salmon.

From Los Angeles Times

The gap is probably wider, his group said, because Huawei’s chips are glitchy and scarce, owing to manufacturing bottlenecks.

From The Wall Street Journal

The enduring lesson: Intelligence is common; emotional discipline is scarce.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

• deficient
• limited
• rare
• scant
• scanty
• sparse
• sporadic