paucity

/ˈpɔːsəti/ formal

Say it: PAW-si-tee

noun The state of having very little of something; a scarcity or lack.
The research paper was criticized for its paucity of evidence.

📖 Seen in the wild

The paucity of evidence made it difficult to reach a verdict.
collected by @vocablast

✏️ paucity in a sentence

Despite the paucity of funding, the clinic continued to serve the community.
The novel was notable for its plot twists but suffered from a paucity of character development.
There is a concerning paucity of qualified applicants for the senior management position.
Historians studying the era are frustrated by the paucity of firsthand accounts.
The initial report on the incident was frustratingly brief, with a complete paucity of detail.
He lamented the paucity of creative thinking in the company's marketing strategy.
The landscape was beautiful in its own way, but its paucity of color made it feel somber.

🔁 Synonyms & antonyms

scarcity dearth lack shortage insufficiency deficiency sparsity

scarcity · often interchangeable, but scarcity can also just mean rarity, while paucity implies insufficiency.

dearth · a very close synonym, often used for abstract things and feels slightly more literary.

lack · more general and neutral; it simply states an absence, whereas paucity emphasizes the smallness of the quantity.

shortage · implies a specific, often temporary, deficit of something that is needed or expected.

Opposites: abundance, plethora, profusion, surplus, wealth

🌱 Where it comes from

Paucity traveled from the Latin word 'paucitās', meaning 'fewness' or 'a small number', which itself comes from 'paucus', meaning 'few'. It entered English in the 15th century, retaining its classical meaning of an insufficient or disappointingly small amount of something.

🧩 How it's used

Common patterns:

a paucity of evidencea paucity of informationa paucity of resourcesa relative paucity ofthe sheer paucity of

Paucity is a formal word that you should save for writing and formal speech; in conversation, 'lack' or 'shortage' is more natural. It carries a distinctly negative connotation, suggesting the small amount of something is a problem. It is almost always followed by 'of' and an abstract noun, such as 'a paucity of information' or 'a paucity of creativity'.

💬 Quick answers

What does paucity mean?

Paucity means a scarcity or lack of something. It refers to the presence of something in only very small or insufficient amounts.

What is the difference between paucity and scarcity?

They are very similar, but paucity specifically highlights that the amount is insufficient or disappointingly small. Scarcity can also simply mean that something is rare or hard to find, without the same strong sense of deficiency.

Is paucity a formal word?

Yes, paucity is a formal word. In casual conversation, you would more likely hear phrases like 'a lack of' or 'not enough'.

How do you use paucity in a sentence?

It is almost always used in the phrase 'a paucity of' followed by the thing that is lacking. For example, 'The plan failed because of a paucity of support.'

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