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 of scarcity

• shortage
• lack

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

There are also opportunities in companies which are benefiting from inflation and scarcity across the AI chain, Fidelity said. — Justina Lee, CNBC, 26 Aug. 2026

The Financial Times has argued that the astronomical prices of top modernist paintings are less about intrinsic artistic value than wealth, scarcity, and the concentration of buying power among billionaires. — George Nelson, ARTnews.com, 25 Aug. 2026

Crucially, the experiment revealed that while design software is free, the significant expense and bottleneck now lie in the physical synthesis and experimental validation of proteins, underscoring the scarcity of wet-lab capacity. — Jon Markman, Forbes.com, 23 Aug. 2026

Because of the close relationship between land use and food scarcity, there’s also a theory that farmland will only become more precious as the population grows. — Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 23 Aug. 2026

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