scarce C2+ Topic:Energy & Industry US /skɛrs/ UK /skeəs/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 adj insufficient in supply; rarely found Clean water grew scarce as the drought wore on. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 adj · insufficient in supply;... sparsescantraremeagerinsufficientdeficientuncommon ↔ Opposites abundantplentifulamplecommon Word family Derived forms scarcelyscarcenessscarcity Related forms scarcityscarcely Etymology AI details From Old North French scars ('scanty, sparing'), from Vulgar Latin *escarpsus, from *excarpere, an alteration of Latin excerpere ('to pluck out, select'). excerpere Latin carpere Latin View etymology graph -> Topics Energy & Industry External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # scarce **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** adj **IPA (US):** /skɛrs/ **IPA (UK):** /skeəs/ ## Meanings 1. insufficient in supply; rarely found ## Examples - Clean water grew scarce as the drought wore on. ## Synonyms - sparse - scant - rare - meager - insufficient - deficient - uncommon ## Antonyms - abundant - plentiful - ample - common ## Derived Forms - scarcely - scarceness - scarcity ## Related Forms - scarcity - scarcely ## Roots and Affixes - Root: excerpere - Root: carpere ## Etymology From Old North French scars ('scanty, sparing'), from Vulgar Latin *escarpsus, from *excarpere, an alteration of Latin excerpere ('to pluck out, select'). ## AI Etymology Scarce comes from Old North French scars ('scanty, sparing'), from Vulgar Latin *escarpsus, from *excarpere, an alteration of Latin excerpere ('to pluck out, select'). The historical trail runs through Latin excerpere and Latin carpere. In modern use it means insufficient in supply; rarely found. Derived formations include scarcely, scarceness, scarcity; related forms include scarcity, scarcely. ## Topics - Energy & Industry markdown