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Learn a Little About Paucity
Paucity refers to "littleness" in numbers (as in "a paucity of facts") or quantity ("a paucity of common sense"). The word comes from paucus, Latin for "little."
Synonyms
Examples of paucity in a Sentence
If you had one of those Yugoslav names with a paucity of vowels, you might sprinkle in a few …
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Calvin Trillin, Time, 22 May 2000
For my part, I find increasingly that I miss the simplicity, the almost willful paucity, of the English way of doing things.
—Bill Bryson, I'm a Stranger Here Myself, 1999
This relative paucity of freeloaders and deadbeats means that rookie Americans, as a group, more than pay their way.
—Jaclyn Fierman, Fortune, 9 Aug. 1993
a paucity of useful answers to the problem of traffic congestion at rush hour
Calvin Trillin, Time, 22 May 2000
For my part, I find increasingly that I miss the simplicity, the almost willful paucity, of the English way of doing things.
—Bill Bryson, I'm a Stranger Here Myself, 1999
This relative paucity of freeloaders and deadbeats means that rookie Americans, as a group, more than pay their way.
—Jaclyn Fierman, Fortune, 9 Aug. 1993
a paucity of useful answers to the problem of traffic congestion at rush hour
Recent Examples on the Web
Given the paucity of income many songwriters receive from streaming services, these royalties can play an outsized role in both their career and their pocket.
—Ethan Millman, Rolling Stone, 16 Jan. 2025
The surprise was how clearly it could be detected, given the paucity of data on these idiosyncratic, ultra-low-turnout elections.
—The Upshot Staff, New York Times, 30 Dec. 2024
It’s made up for some other clear deficiencies — no post game, Young’s struggles, a paucity of 3-point threats and periodic rashes of turnovers — to surprisingly keep the Hawks in the thick of the playoff race.
—John Hollinger, The Athletic, 1 Jan. 2025
If so, from what? The publication of The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing in 1991 would have been a monumental event in Irish literary history no matter what, but the criticism of its lack of women editors and its paucity of women writers created a firestorm.
—Christian Wiman, Harper's Magazine, 2 Aug. 2024
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Ethan Millman, Rolling Stone, 16 Jan. 2025
The surprise was how clearly it could be detected, given the paucity of data on these idiosyncratic, ultra-low-turnout elections.
—The Upshot Staff, New York Times, 30 Dec. 2024
It’s made up for some other clear deficiencies — no post game, Young’s struggles, a paucity of 3-point threats and periodic rashes of turnovers — to surprisingly keep the Hawks in the thick of the playoff race.
—John Hollinger, The Athletic, 1 Jan. 2025
If so, from what? The publication of The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing in 1991 would have been a monumental event in Irish literary history no matter what, but the criticism of its lack of women editors and its paucity of women writers created a firestorm.
—Christian Wiman, Harper's Magazine, 2 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for paucity
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Cite this Entry
“Paucity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paucity. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.
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