dearth

1 a falling short of an essential or desirable amount or number there was a dearth of usable firewood at the campsite Synonyms crunch, deficiency, deficit, drought (also drouth), failure, famine, inadequacy, inadequateness, insufficiency, lack, lacuna, paucity, pinch, poverty, scantiness, scarceness, scarcity, shortage, undersupply, wantRelated Words absence, omission; meagerness, poorness, skimpiness; necessity, need, privationNear Antonyms bountifulness, copiousness; excess, overabundance, oversupply, surfeit, surplusAntonyms abundance, adequacy, amplitude, opulence, plenitude, plenty, sufficiency, wealth

2 the fact or state of being absent the dearth of salesclerks at the shoe store annoyed us Synonyms absence, lack, wantRelated Words deficiency, deficit, failure, famine, inadequacy, inadequateness, insufficiency, meagerness, paucity, poverty, scantiness, scantness, scarceness, scarcity, shortage, skimpiness, undersupply; deprivation, loss, necessity, need, needfulness, omission; privation; blankness, emptiness, vacuity, vacuum, voidNear Antonyms abundance, amplitude, bounty, plenitude, plenteousness, plentifulness, plentitude, plenty, wealth; adequacy, sufficiency; excess, overabundance, oversupply, superabundance, surfeit, surplus; deluge, flood; bushel, deal, gobs, heap, loads, lot, mass, mountain, much, oodles, peck, pile, pot, quantity, raft, reams, scads, stack, volume, wad; fund, pool, stock, supply; cache, hoard, stash, stockpileAntonyms presence