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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Recent Examples of scarcity
Water scarcity is a huge global issue.
—
Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 6 Sep. 2025
None of this is easy, especially in a time of scarcity, such as what Chicago and governments across Illinois face.
—Debra Gittler, Mercury News, 5 Sep. 2025
Who are any of these actors or directors in a world where movies might become a scarcity?
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025
Beyond lifestyle, scarcity is fueling the frenzy.
—Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for scarcity
Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 6 Sep. 2025
None of this is easy, especially in a time of scarcity, such as what Chicago and governments across Illinois face.
—Debra Gittler, Mercury News, 5 Sep. 2025
Who are any of these actors or directors in a world where movies might become a scarcity?
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025
Beyond lifestyle, scarcity is fueling the frenzy.
—Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for scarcity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scarcity
Noun
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But in the Midwest and the Northeast, where the housing shortage remains most acute, prices have kept high.—
Giulia Carbonaro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Sep. 2025
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Developers face rising costs, labor shortages, and supply constraints.—
Maurice Obeid,
Forbes.com,
17 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 19 Sep. 2025.
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