scarcer; scarcest
1
: deficient in quantity or number compared with the demand : not plentiful or abundant
2
: intentionally absent
made himself scarce at inspection time
scarceness
noun
Examples of scarce in a Sentence
Adjective
Food was getting scarce during the drought.
food was a bit scarce last winter
Adverb
I could scarce believe what I was hearing.
Recent Examples on the Web
Joseph V Micallef, Forbes.com, 26 July 2025
Details after paramedics whisked Valdes away are scarce, her friend says, as no one was allowed to ride with her to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, where she was later pronounced dead.
—Isabel Rivera, Miami Herald, 24 July 2025
After attending LaGuardia High School and majoring in illustration at Parsons, Crawford thought about working in character design, animation or comics, but secure salaried jobs are scarce for artists.
—Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 23 July 2025
Upon his arrival in the city of Balboa, in Panama, a group of U.S. soldiers surprised him with coffee and fresh milk after an arduous journey with scarce food.
—Wesley J. Pérez Vidal, NBC news, 22 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for scarce
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Adjective
While specific details of his early childhood are scarce, Weller came of age during a time when distilling was a booming regional industry, often run by farmers and small-business operators who combined their agricultural production with whiskey making.
—Joseph V Micallef, Forbes.com, 26 July 2025
Details after paramedics whisked Valdes away are scarce, her friend says, as no one was allowed to ride with her to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, where she was later pronounced dead.
—Isabel Rivera, Miami Herald, 24 July 2025
After attending LaGuardia High School and majoring in illustration at Parsons, Crawford thought about working in character design, animation or comics, but secure salaried jobs are scarce for artists.
—Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 23 July 2025
Upon his arrival in the city of Balboa, in Panama, a group of U.S. soldiers surprised him with coffee and fresh milk after an arduous journey with scarce food.
—Wesley J. Pérez Vidal, NBC news, 22 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for scarce
Cite this Entry
“Scarce.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scarce. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share