as in shortage
a falling short of an essential or desirable amount or number
the scarcity of good restaurants around here is surprising
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of scarcity
While there are older baseball cards with fewer copies in existence and certainly similarly scarce cards in better condition, the Wagner has long been coveted due to its combination of scarcity and Hall of Fame subject.
—
Brendan Coffey, Sportico.com, 28 May 2025
Indiana resumed executions after a hiatus due to scarcity of lethal injection drugs that affected correctional departments nationwide.
—CBS News, 20 May 2025
Water scarcity is a big challenge, so there’s a really interesting history here of water-technology innovation, including hydropower.
—Matt Alderon, USA Today, 20 May 2025
One challenge in robotics today is data scarcity, especially high-quality, physical interaction data.
—Shannon Carroll, Quartz, 19 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for scarcity
Brendan Coffey, Sportico.com, 28 May 2025
Indiana resumed executions after a hiatus due to scarcity of lethal injection drugs that affected correctional departments nationwide.
—CBS News, 20 May 2025
Water scarcity is a big challenge, so there’s a really interesting history here of water-technology innovation, including hydropower.
—Matt Alderon, USA Today, 20 May 2025
One challenge in robotics today is data scarcity, especially high-quality, physical interaction data.
—Shannon Carroll, Quartz, 19 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for scarcity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scarcity
Noun
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At the time Volkswagen was the first automaker to warn of a global chip shortage.—
Steve Banker,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2025
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The rights of property owners aren’t always given the appropriate amount of respect, especially in a time of housing shortages and rising rents.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
30 May 2025
Noun
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Brandon Bell/Getty Images What To Know A chronic lack of inventory, partially due to the fact that homebuilders in the U.S. significantly underbuilt in the years following the 2008 crash, contributed to bringing U.S. home prices through the roof in recent years.—
Giulia Carbonaro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 June 2025
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In American literature, this is perhaps a relatively recent phenomenon too, one that could be attributed to a lack of global (and local) educational foundation.—
Aram Mrjoian
June 6,
Literary Hub,
6 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Scarcity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scarcity. Accessed 11 Jun. 2025.
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