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

That feedback is more an indictment of the relative paucity in pop culture of caregiving narratives, a situation that was featured in just one in ten TV shows in 2021, according to a study from Caring Across Generations and the Geena Davis Institute last year. —Rebecca Sun, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 May 2024

That paucity of pop hits was a minus for many viewers weighing in in the festival’s livestream chat room about not having much to sing along with. —Chris Willman, Variety, 15 Apr. 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