paucity

noun

pau·​ci·​ty ˈpȯ-sə-tē 

1

: smallness of number : fewness

2

: smallness of quantity : dearth

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Learn a Little About Paucity

Paucity refers to "littleness" in numbers (as in "a paucity of facts") or quantity ("a paucity of common sense"). The word comes from paucus, Latin for "little."

Synonyms

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

Examples of paucity in a Sentence

If you had one of those Yugoslav names with a paucity of vowels, you might sprinkle in a few … —Calvin Trillin, Time, 22 May 2000

For my part, I find increasingly that I miss the simplicity, the almost willful paucity, of the English way of doing things. —Bill Bryson, I'm a Stranger Here Myself, 1999

This relative paucity of freeloaders and deadbeats means that rookie Americans, as a group, more than pay their way. —Jaclyn Fierman, Fortune, 9 Aug. 1993

a paucity of useful answers to the problem of traffic congestion at rush hour

Recent Examples on the Web

As Harris has ramped up her media after taking criticism for a paucity of interviews, her campaign has pointed out that Trump has been largely choosing friendly outlets. —Ted Johnson, Deadline, 11 Oct. 2024

Really, what explains the paucity of humans north of the United States desperately trying to get to the U.S.? —John Tamny, Forbes, 3 Oct. 2024

An independent review panel attributed the WHO’s poor performance to crippling budget cuts, a paucity of deployable personnel and logistical capacity, and a failure to cultivate relationships with other UN agencies, the private sector, and nongovernmental organizations. —Stewart Patrick, Foreign Affairs, 9 June 2020

This defense of a model, which has lost its predictive power, especially at the ends of its curve speaks to the myths of economics and the paucity of tools that have predictive or even analytic power. —Vipin Bharathan, Forbes, 17 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English paucite, from Latin paucitat-, paucitas, from paucus little — more at few

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

paucity

noun

pau·​ci·​ty ˈpȯ-sət-ē 

: smallness of number or quantity : scarcity

a paucity of experience