scarce en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /skeɹs/ (Scotland)
- /ˈskɛəs/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /skeəs/ (New-Zealand) without the cheer–chair merger
- /ˈskɛɚs/ (General-American)
- /ˈskeɪs/ see scace
- /skɜː(ɹ)s/ Lancashire, fair–fur merger
- /skɑː(ɹ)s/ (nonstandard)
- /skeːs/ (Australia)
- (US) audio
- /skiəs/ New Zealand, cheer–chair merger
Etymology
From 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”). The standard pronunciation having the /ɛə(ɹ)/ vowel instead of expected /ɑː(ɹ)/ is due to a tendency for Old and Middle French preconsonantal /ar/ to be borrowed as Middle English /aːr/ that only survives in this word and dace in the modern standard, but is more frequent in Early Modern English and traditional dialects; compare Scots gairden (“garden”), lairge (“large”).
Meanings
-
(of resources, qualifier:such as food) Uncommon, rare; difficult to find; insufficient to meet a demand.
My hopes wa'n't disappointed. I never saw clams thicker than they was along them inshore flats. I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out. Clams was fairly scarce over that side of the bay and ought to fetch a fair price.
1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter III, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:You tell him silver is scarcer now in England, and therefore risen in value one fifth.
1691, [John Locke], Some Considerations of the Consequences of the Lowering of Interest, and Raising the Value of Money. […], London: […] Awnsham and John Churchill, […], published 1692, →OCLC:By the end of the 20th century elephants had become scarce even in Africa.
-
Scantily supplied (with); deficient (in); used with of.
a region scarce of prey
1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:The project failed due to the scarce resources in the national market.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| scarcer | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| scarse | alternative, obsolete | lexicographic | |
| scace | alternative | lexicographic | |
| scarcest | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Deriveds
scarcen · scarceness · unscarce · scarcely · scarce as hen's teeth · scarce chaser · scarcement · nonscarce · make oneself scarce · scarce copper
Relateds
Synonyms
infrequent · geason · raresome
Translations (55)
cs nedostatkový (rare, in low supply) · ga tearc (rare, in low supply) · ca escàs (rare, in low supply) · fi niukka (rare, in low supply) · da knap (rare, in low supply) · et napp (rare, in low supply) · cmn 缺乏的 (rare, in low supply) · io skarsa (rare, in low supply) · bg оскъден (rare, in low supply) · fi riittämätön (rare, in low supply) · fa اندک (rare, in low supply) · mi mōmōhanga (rare, in low supply) · az qıt (rare, in low supply) · fa نادر (rare, in low supply) · mk оскуден (rare, in low supply) · nv bídin hóyééʼ (rare, in low supply) · ar نَادِر (rare, in low supply) · ja 稀 (rare, in low supply) · pl ubogi (rare, in low supply) · fi harvinainen (rare, in low supply) · id langka (rare, in low supply) · pt escasso (rare, in low supply) · gd ainneamh (rare, in low supply) · pl nieobfity (rare, in low supply) · pl skąpy (rare, in low supply) · gd gann (rare, in low supply) · enm scars (rare, in low supply) · sv knapp (rare, in low supply) · sw nadra (rare, in low supply) · mi onge (rare, in low supply) · it scarso (rare, in low supply) · bcl ipo (rare, in low supply) · nl schaars (rare, in low supply) · cs vzácný (rare, in low supply) · mi mōtī (rare, in low supply) · fr rare (rare, in low supply) · ru недоста́точный (rare, in low supply) · ru ску́дный (rare, in low supply) · fa ناکافی (rare, in low supply) · es escaso (rare, in low supply) · az qəhət (rare, in low supply) · fa کمیاب (rare, in low supply) · de spärlich (rare, in low supply) · mi ongeonge (rare, in low supply) · grc σπάνιος (rare, in low supply) · eo malabunda (rare, in low supply) · hu gyér (rare, in low supply) · hu ritka (rare, in low supply) · tl uyak (rare, in low supply) · tr nadir (rare, in low supply) · gl escaso (rare, in low supply) · ko 드문 (rare, in low supply) · ja 珍しい (rare, in low supply) · bg недостатъчен (rare, in low supply) · lv trūcīgs (rare, in low supply)