scarce

Meanings

1. 1adjectivecomparable

   Available only in small amounts, so that there is not enough to meet what people want or need.

   Grammar: Used after a linking verb or before a noun: Water is scarce, or scarce resources.

   Patterns

   • something is scarce
   • scarce resources

   Fresh water was scarce during the long drought.

   Good jobs are scarce in this part of the country.

   Parking spaces get scarce near the stadium on game days.

2. 2adjectivecomparable

   Hard to find or seldom seen because there are few of them.

   Grammar: Often appears in the idiom make yourself scarce, meaning to leave quietly.

   Patterns

   • make yourself scarce

   Wild orchids have become scarce in the valley.

   When the dishes needed washing, my brother made himself scarce.

Word forms

Common combinations

become scarce

Clean drinking water can become scarce after a flood.

scarce resources

The town had to share its scarce resources carefully.

grow increasingly scarce

Skilled plumbers are growing increasingly scarce.

make yourself scarce

I made myself scarce when the argument started.

in scarce supply

Fresh vegetables were in scarce supply all winter.

Synonyms and how they differ

rare

Rare suggests something is uncommon by nature, while scarce usually means there is too little for the demand at the moment.

sparse

Sparse describes things thinly spread out, like hair or vegetation, rather than short in supply.

limited

Limited says the amount has a ceiling, but it does not imply that people are struggling to find it.

Opposites

Word family

scarcity noun

a shortage of something

scarcely adverb

hardly; only just

Commonly confused: scarce or scared? scarce or rare?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “scarce”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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