scarce

[skairs] / skɛərs /

ADJECTIVE

insufficient, infrequent

Synonyms

STRONGEST

deficient limited rare scant scanty sparse sporadic

WEAK

at a premium failing few few and far between in short supply occasional seldom seldom met with semioccasional short shortened shy truncated uncommon unusual wanting

Antonyms

STRONGEST

adequate ample plentiful satisfactory sufficient

WEAK

abundant frequent

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Replacing these specialized locations was difficult, making hunter groups more vulnerable when key resources became scarce.

From Science Daily • Jun. 11, 2026

These sectors are currently riddled with bottleneck tasks; specifically, thinly staffed areas where expert prediction is scarce.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 10, 2026

Disinflation is scarce: Counterintuitively, big price gains in food and energy are not the real cause of excessive inflation, Faulkner-MacDonagh says.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 8, 2026

Rubbish bins are notoriously scarce in Japan, partly due to safety concerns after past terror attacks in the country and abroad.

From BBC • Jun. 1, 2026

Expert code breakers were scarce, and recently they had lost one of their best: Agnes Meyer.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

Vocabulary lists containing scarce

The Vocabulary.com Top 1000

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List 3

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100 SAT words Beginning with "S"

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