dearth
A period or condition when food is rare and hence expensiveA period or condition when food is rare and hence expensive; famine.
» Shortly thereafter, the dearth returned to the house.
Meaning
3 senses(countable, uncountable)A period or condition when food is rare and hence expensive; famine.
(broadly, countable, uncountable)Scarcity; a lack or short supply.
(countable, obsolete, uncountable)Dearness; the quality of being rare or costly.
- an insufficient quantity or number
- an acute insufficiency
Examples
7 sentencesShortly thereafter, the dearth returned to the house.
For a writer there is no dearth of detractors.
deEinem Schriftsteller mangelt es nie an Kritikern.
There is no dearth of good will, only of courage.
ruВ доброй воле нет недостатка, только в храбрости.
There is a dearth of available medical personnel to administer vaccines.
There is a dearth of sentences involving the word "dearth" on Tatoeba.
Origin
First attested at least as early as the late 1300s, and appearing in Tyndale’s PentateuchFirst attested at least as early as the late 1300s, and appearing in Tyndale’s Pentateuch (1530) as well as the Coverdale Bible (1535). From Middle English derth, derthe, derþe, probably from Old English *dīerþ, *dīerþu, from Proto-West Germanic *diuriþu, from Proto-Germanic *diuriþō (“costliness, preciousness, honour”); corresponding to dear + -th (abstract nominal suffix). Cognate with Old Saxon diuriða (“glory, honour; preciousness”), West Frisian djoerte (“love, dearness, value, worth”), Dutch duurte (“dearness; scarcity, dearth”), Icelandic dýrð (“honour, glory”).
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Forms
plural: dearthsSynonyms
5 synonymsWord family
2 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable