Synonyms: Few

There's no shortage of words to describe when there isn't enough of something to go around. For more synonym lists, explore our Say What You Mean resources.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. dearth
    an insufficient quantity or number
    There was a dearth of pens that day in class. How the García Girls Lost Their Accents
    A dearth is an insufficient amount of something, often food. The word comes from the Middle English derþe, which has roots in the Old Norse dýrð, meaning "glory" or "costly."
  2. deficiency
    lack of an adequate quantity or number
    Some variants of the illness were known to be caused by nutritional deficiencies. The Gene
  3. drought
    a prolonged shortage
    We’ve even dug some irrigation ditches, in case there’s a drought. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
    A drought is a long period with little or no rain. Drought can also describe a long period without something, like a sports team's losing streak.
  4. famine
    an acute insufficiency
    Agricultural societies are ravaged by famine when drought, fire or earthquake devastates the annual rice or potato crop. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
    Famine describes a severe shortage of food.
  5. inadequate
    not sufficient to meet a need
    She dealt with foul weather, inadequate food and housing, and angry crowds. Votes for Women!
  6. insufficient
    of a quantity not able to fulfill a need or requirement
    Sometimes the long hours on insufficient food were hard to bear, but Boxer never faltered. Animal Farm: A Fairy Story
    Sufficient means "enough." Insufficient means the opposite.
  7. lack
    be without
    But Daddy wasn’t deterred by my lack of interest. The Lions of Little Rock
    Lack is both a noun and a verb. If you lack something, like patience, then you don't have patience. The lack of something is when there's an absence. You could say "The lack of donuts at this meeting is a problem!"
  8. lean
    containing little excess
    For others, its contents may function as edible insurance policies during lean years. New York Times (Feb 23, 2021)
    Lean can describe a thin person, and it can also describe a time when someone has very little money or food.
  9. meager
    deficient in amount or quality or extent
    The work was brutal, and the food too meager to sustain me. Prisoner B-3087
    Meager comes from the French maigre, meaning "thin." So it's a synonym for lean.
  10. paltry
    contemptibly small in amount or size
    It's a paltry amount of power, compared to what the rover consumes, but it's not nothing. The Martian
  11. paucity
    an insufficient quantity or number
    The other major obstacle to the development of food production in Australia was the paucity of domesticable wild plants. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
    Paucity is a synonym for scarcity and shortage. Paucus means "few" in Latin.
  12. privation
    a state of extreme poverty
    She almost keeled over into the tracks as she howled after the train, her throat raspy and raw after days of privation. The Underground Railroad: A Novel
  13. scantiness
    the quality of being meager
    For the first two hundred yards the travelling is easy because of this very scantiness of the fern and underwood; but then there seems to rise up a thick wall of vegetation. Jefferies, Richard
    Scant is a synonym for dearth and scarce.
  14. scarce
    deficient in quantity or number compared with the demand
    Times hadn't been great, but now food and money were scarcer than before. Life Is So Good
    Scarce means rare, or hard to come by.
  15. shortage
    an acute insufficiency
    Classes were frequently canceled due to a shortage of teachers. The 57 Bus
  16. skimpy
    containing little excess
    The meals were skimpy and there were only two of them. Black Boy
    If you skimp on something, say salad dressing, then you're not pouring enough on and your salad will be dry and not have much flavor.
  17. smattering
    a small number or amount
    A smattering of students and tourists sit at the tables. Warcross
  18. sparsity
    the property of being few, scanty, or scattered
    The sparsity of population is also well indicated by the great scarcity of food. Barrows, David P.
    Where paucity is a shortage, not enough, sparsity describes a few things spread around a large area: like a desert with just a handful of scrubby trees in it.
Created on Mon Mar 09 20:33:36 EDT 2020 (updated Mon Mar 22 17:38:16 EDT 2021)

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