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Meaning & use

dearth

noun·Advancedformal

Last updated

UK/dɜːθ/
US/dɝːθ/

Meaning

  1. nounsingularformal

    A situation where there is much too little of something that people need or expect.

    Grammar: Singular and followed by of: a dearth of talent.

    Patterns

    • a dearth of something

    There is a dearth of affordable housing in the city.

    The school suffers from a dearth of qualified teachers.

    A dearth of evidence made the case hard to prove.

Common combinations

a dearth of information
A dearth of information hindered the investigation.
a dearth of talent
The league has a dearth of young talent.
a dearth of options
We faced a dearth of options for lunch.
a dearth of evidence
Critics pointed to a dearth of evidence.
a notable dearth
There was a notable dearth of women on the panel.

Synonyms and how they differ

shortage
Shortage is the everyday word for not having enough, and it is often used for goods and supplies.
scarcity
Scarcity suggests something is rare and hard to find, while dearth emphasizes a damaging lack.
lack
Lack is shorter and more flexible, and can be a verb, while dearth is only a noun.
paucity
Paucity is even more formal and suggests the smallness of a number, whereas dearth stresses missing something needed.

Opposites

abundancesurplusglut

Word family

dear adjective
expensive, which shares the old sense of scarce and costly
dearly adverb
very much
dearness noun
the state of being costly (rare)

Commonly confused: dearth or death? dearth or dirth?

dearth vs death

Death means the end of life; dearth, with the r, means a lack of something.

dearth vs dirth

Dirth is not a word; the correct spelling is dearth.

Practice

The town has a dearth ___ restaurants that open late.

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