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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."
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 …
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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
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
Hollywood cinema has ever been a medium of self-reflexivity, mining its own art and business for story material, so the latest depiction of above-the-line talent — oddly, there is a paucity of films about gaffers, best boys, or foley artists — is part of a venerable tradition.
—Thomas Doherty, HollywoodReporter, 20 Apr. 2025
As the team’s First Nations players, fans, and also-rans shape their lives beyond the ice, generational trauma, addiction, and a paucity of choices loom large.
—Monitor Contributors, Christian Science Monitor, 11 Apr. 2025
China’s coal-heavy energy mix and paucity of domestic natural gas production undercuts its low-carbon credentials and ability to bring blue hydrogen to scale.
—David Blackmon, Forbes.com, 10 Apr. 2025
Sussman—Getty Images for TIME In 2017, Kidman pledged to work with a woman director every 18 months in light of the #MeToo movement’s reckoning with the paucity of opportunities for female filmmakers.
—Miranda Jeyaretnam, TIME, 26 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for paucity
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Thomas Doherty, HollywoodReporter, 20 Apr. 2025
As the team’s First Nations players, fans, and also-rans shape their lives beyond the ice, generational trauma, addiction, and a paucity of choices loom large.
—Monitor Contributors, Christian Science Monitor, 11 Apr. 2025
China’s coal-heavy energy mix and paucity of domestic natural gas production undercuts its low-carbon credentials and ability to bring blue hydrogen to scale.
—David Blackmon, Forbes.com, 10 Apr. 2025
Sussman—Getty Images for TIME In 2017, Kidman pledged to work with a woman director every 18 months in light of the #MeToo movement’s reckoning with the paucity of opportunities for female filmmakers.
—Miranda Jeyaretnam, TIME, 26 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for paucity
Cite this Entry
“Paucity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paucity. Accessed 21 May. 2025.
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