scarce
Uncommon, rare; difficult to find; insufficient to meet a demandUncommon, rare; difficult to find; insufficient to meet a demand.
» Water is scarce in this area.
Wasser ist in dieser Gegend knapp.
Meaning
2 sensesUncommon, rare; difficult to find; insufficient to meet a demand.
By the end of the 20th century elephants had become scarce even in Africa.
spärlich
недоста́точныйnedostátočnyj, ску́дныйskúdnyj
Scantily supplied (with); deficient (in); used with of.
The project failed due to the scarce resources in the national market.
- deficient in quantity or number compared with the demand
Examples
56 sentencesWater is scarce in this area.
deWasser ist in dieser Gegend knapp. — MikeMolto
Rain is scarce in this country.
ruВ этой стране редко бывают дожди. — sharptoothed
deRegen ist in diesem Land selten. — MUIRIEL
Oil is scarce in this country.
ruБензин редко встречается в этой стране. — psykami
deÖl ist in diesem Land selten. — al_ex_an_der
Drinking water is scarce.
Food is scarce.
Translations
8 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
From Middle English scars, scarse, from Old Northern French scars, escars ("sparing, niggaFrom Middle English scars, scarse, from Old Northern French scars, escars ("sparing, niggard, parsimonious, miserly, poor"; > French échars, Medieval Latin scarsus (“diminished, reduced”)), of uncertain origin. One theory is that it derives originally from a Late Latin *scarpsus, *excarpsus, a participle form of *excarpere (“take out”), from Latin ex- + carpere; yet the sense evolution is difficult to trace. Compare Middle Dutch schaers (“scarce”), Middle Dutch schaers (“a pair of shears, plowshare”), scheeren (“to shear”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
scarcer, scarcestSynonyms
3 synonymsAntonyms
1 antonymsWord family
9 related wordsLessons for this word
2 lessons- A2Comparatives — Because it has a comparative form
- A2Superlatives — Because it has a superlative form