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Synonyms
scarce (skârs)

[Middle English scars, from Old French scars, from Vulgar Latin* excarpsus, narrow, cramped, from past participle of * excarpere, to pluck out, alteration of Latin excerpere, to pick out; see excerpt.]

adjective: scarc·er, scarc·est. 

  1. Insufficient to meet a demand or requirement; short in supply: Fresh vegetables were scarce during the drought.
  2. Hard to find; absent or rare: Steel pennies are scarce now except in coin shops.

adverb 

Barely or hardly; scarcely.

idioms

make (oneself) scarce
To stay away; be absent or elusive. To depart, especially quickly or furtively; abscond.

derivatives

scarcéness
noun