scarcity

scar·ci·ty

noun \ˈsker-sə-tē, -stē\

plural scar·ci·ties

Definition of SCARCITY

: the quality or state of being scarce; especially : want of provisions for the support of life

Examples of SCARCITY

1. Scarcity of food forced the herds to move.
2. <the scarcity of good restaurants around here is surprising>

First Known Use of SCARCITY

14th century

Related to SCARCITY

Synonyms: crunch, dearth, deficit, drought (also drouth), failure, famine, inadequacy, inadequateness, insufficiency, lack, lacuna, paucity, pinch, poverty, scantiness, scarceness, deficiency, shortage, undersupply, want

Antonyms: abundance, adequacy, amplitude, opulence, plenitude, plenty, sufficiency, wealth

Related Words: absence, omission; meagerness, poorness, skimpiness; necessity, need, privation

Near Antonyms: bountifulness, copiousness; excess, overabundance, oversupply, surfeit, surplus

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