scarcity

noun

scar·​ci·​ty ˈsker-sə-tē 

-stē

plural scarcities

: the quality or state of being scarce

especially : want of provisions for the support of life

Synonyms

• crunch
• dearth
• deficiency
• deficit
• drought
• drouth
• failure
• famine
• inadequacy
• inadequateness
• insufficiency
• lack
• lacuna
• paucity
• pinch
• poverty
• scantiness
• scarceness
• shortage
• undersupply
• want

Examples of scarcity in a Sentence

Scarcity of food forced the herds to move.

the scarcity of good restaurants around here is surprising

Recent Examples on the Web

This speaks to a larger issue of the collective shift away from physical retail, the rising costs of overhead and commercial rent, and the scarcity of grants and funding available to independent entrepreneurs. —Shelton Boyd-Griffith, Vogue, 28 Mar. 2025

The model originally spawned from scarcity is likely to be recovered as a consequence of abundance (or a scarcity of attention). —Jim Euchner, Forbes.com, 26 Mar. 2025

But what truly sets POP MART apart is its ability to make scarcity scalable. —Kate Hardcastle, Forbes, 25 Mar. 2025

Despite basic survival challenges, food scarcity likely wouldn’t have been a major one. —Julianna Bragg, CNN, 21 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

scarcity

noun

scar·​ci·​ty ˈsker-sət-ē 

ˈskar-

plural scarcities

: the quality or state of being scarce : a very small supply