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
Many animals have adapted to water scarcity, with seasonal migrations, nocturnal habits and burrowing during the worst of the heat to offset water loss.
—
John Leos, AZCentral.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Projects that address water scarcity can help reduce disease, support education, create jobs, empower women and combat climate change, all in one effort.
—Sivan Yaari, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
In addition to political persecution, returning Venezuelans would reenter a country teetering on collapse—maligned by hyperinflation, soaring unemployment, rampant crime, frequent power outages, water shortages and chronic scarcities of food and medicine.
—Antonio Maria Delgado, Miami Herald, 3 Sep. 2025
Given the relative scarcity such an arrangement implies and the NFL’s unmatched reach, commercials that air within that content tend to fly off the shelves.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 3 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for scarcity
John Leos, AZCentral.com, 3 Sep. 2025
Projects that address water scarcity can help reduce disease, support education, create jobs, empower women and combat climate change, all in one effort.
—Sivan Yaari, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
In addition to political persecution, returning Venezuelans would reenter a country teetering on collapse—maligned by hyperinflation, soaring unemployment, rampant crime, frequent power outages, water shortages and chronic scarcities of food and medicine.
—Antonio Maria Delgado, Miami Herald, 3 Sep. 2025
Given the relative scarcity such an arrangement implies and the NFL’s unmatched reach, commercials that air within that content tend to fly off the shelves.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 3 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for scarcity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scarcity
Noun
-
The 2021 Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack shut down the largest refined products pipeline in the United States for several days, creating fuel shortages and demonstrating how OT disruptions cascade through the economy.—
Bob Ackerman,
Forbes.com,
10 Sep. 2025
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In a decade that some critics believe has a shortage of newness and invention, slop is one of the few frontiers that’s actively being pushed.—
Kieran Press-Reynolds,
Pitchfork,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Trump’s encouragement of Walker was enough to spur him into the race, though Republicans as a whole were hesitant, given Walker’s lack of experience and standing as an unknown quantity among GOP voters.—
Kimberly Ross,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Sep. 2025
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Traditional data lakes can store raw data at scale but lack quality controls, while warehouses enforce structure but struggle with unstructured or fast changing data.—
Matthew Kayser,
USA Today,
12 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Scarcity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scarcity. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.
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