Definition of dearth
2
: an inadequate supply : lack
- a dearth of evidence
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Examples of dearth in a Sentence
- It may also be a respite for booksellers, who have been grumbling for several years about sluggish sales and a dearth of dependable blockbuster fiction. —Julie Bosman, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2006
- … Earnhardt has recently hinted that a company-wide dearth of talent is the core reason his Chevy simply isn't as fast in 2005 as it's been in the past. —Lars Anderson, Sports Illustrated, 11 Apr. 2006
- AirNet, which hauls bank checks and other time-critical freight, used to require that its pilots have at least 1,200 hours of flight experience. Then, faced with a dearth of experienced applicants, it dropped the requirement to 500 hours. Now, it has no minimum. —Scott McCartney, Wall Street Journal, 10 Aug. 2000
there was a dearth of usable firewood at the campsite
the dearth of salesclerks at the shoe store annoyed us
Recent Examples of dearth from the Web
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Vergara forecast that his project, at 111 SE First Ave., would be well-received because of the growing popularity of downtown Delray Beach and a dearth of condo unit inventory.
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England’s dearth of highly skilled playmakers means that almost every Premier League team uses homegrown players to run around and tackle but employs some foreign genius to do the actual business of unlocking defenses and scoring goals.
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And partly because of a dearth in research, misconceptions about the disease abound among the general public.
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One of the problems, Hallgrimsson believed, was the near-dearth of fan support.
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Yet, this dearth of recent accomplishments serves as motivation for Preston.
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The dearth of either can indicate hypothyroidism, which the Pets section of WebMD.com says isn't life-threatening, but can effect quality of life if untreated.
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Intensely private behind their walls of privet, genteel and yes, primarily gentile, the club system continues to thrive in the Hamptons, in spite of the headwinds of social change or supposed dearth of clubbable types.
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The Tonys ceremony wrapped a decidedly oddball season on Broadway, when the dearth of original plays and musicals likely to withstand the test of time was redeemed primarily by a handful of superlative revivals.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dearth.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Where Does the Word dearth Come From?
The facts about the history of the word dearth are quite simple: the word derives from the Middle English form "derthe," which has the same meaning as our modern term. That Middle English form is assumed to have developed from an Old English form that was probably spelled "dierth" and was related to "dēore," the Old English form that gave us the word dear. ("Dear" also once meant "scarce," but that sense of the word is now obsolete.) Some form of "dearth" has been used to describe things that are in short supply since at least the 13th century, when it often referred to a shortage of food.
Origin and Etymology of dearth
Middle English derthe, from Old English *dierth, from dēore dear
NEW! Time Traveler
First Known Use: 13th century
in the meaning defined at sense 1
See Words from the same yeardearth Synonyms
Antonyms
Near Antonyms
abundance, amplitude, bounty, plenitude, plenteousness, plentifulness, plentitude, plenty, wealth;
excess, overabundance, oversupply, superabundance, surfeit, surplus;
bushel, deal, gobs, heap, loads, lot, mass, mountain, much, oodles, peck, pile, pot, quantity, raft, reams, scads, stack, volume, wad;
Related Words
deficiency, deficit, failure, famine, inadequacy, inadequateness, insufficiency, meagerness, paucity, poverty, scantiness, scantness, scarceness, scarcity, shortage, skimpiness, undersupply;
DEARTH Defined for English Language Learners
Definition of dearth for English Language Learners
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: the state or condition of not having enough of something
DEARTH Defined for Kids
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