I. scarce 1 /skeəs $ skers/ BrE AmE adjective ( comparative scarcer , superlative scarcest )
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old North French ; Origin: escars , from Vulgar Latin excarpsus 'pulled out' , from Latin excerpere ; ⇨ ↑ excerpt ]
1 . if something is scarce, there is not very much of it available:
Food was often scarce in the winter.
There was fierce competition for the scarce resources.
2 . make yourself scarce informal to leave a place, especially in order to avoid an unpleasant situation:
I decided it was time to make myself scarce.
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THESAURUS
▪ rare not existing in large numbers or in large amounts:
The law prevents the export of rare birds.
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The plates are quite rare. Only about a hundred were made.
▪ scarce not available in large enough numbers or amounts at a particular time – used especially about things people need:
After the war, food and clothing were scarce.
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People are having to compete for scarce resources.
▪ not common [not before noun] fairly rare:
Silver coins of this period are not common, and could be very valuable.
▪ infrequent formal not happening often:
As time went on, her visits became more and more infrequent.
▪ be few and far between to not be common – especially much less common than you might expect:
Luckily, accidents such as these are few and far between.
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Bargains are, unfortunately, few and far between.
▪ be (something of) a rarity if something or someone is a rarity, it is surprising to find one, because very few exist:
Women are still something of a rarity in senior management positions.
▪ be like hen’s teeth informal to be extremely rare:
Good Greek restaurants are like hen’s teeth around here.
II. scarce 2 BrE AmE adverb literary
scarcely:
He could scarce believe it.