Vocabulary
Scarcity
English and Urdu gloss, synonyms and antonyms, and example usage from our editorial sentence cache where available.
English meaning
the state of being scarce or in short supply; shortage.
Urdu meaning
قلت، کمی، قلیل
Example sentences (from Dawn)
Sentences are selected from stored editorial text where your search word appears. If none appear yet, run the admin sentence generator for fuller coverage.
- A troubling side effect of the dollar scarcity is already visible: the re-emergence of a grey market for foreign currency the only place to buy dollars for the past several months, though at a large premium.
- This arid subtropical desert experiences low irregular rainfall, soil erosion and water scarcity, driving demand for inter-basin transfers like the Beas-Bikaner and Indira Gandhi canals.
- As Pakistan is one of the most water-stressed countries in the world, over 80pc of its population faces water scarcity.
- There can be no doubt that waterborne diseases are set to rise; the scarcity of essential drugs threatens to turn an already desperate humanitarian situation into a major public health disaster.
- Nor is it the first time such scarcity has overlapped with a natural disaster, multiplying the sufferings of those affected.
Synonyms
shortage, dearth, lack, want, undersupply, insufficiency, paucity, scarceness
Antonyms
abundance, excess, surplus, commonness
Curator example
“a time of scarcity”
More vocabulary to explore
About this vocabulary section.
These entries support close reading of Dawn editorials and opinion pieces: short definitions,
Urdu equivalents where we have them, word relations, and—when generated—real lines from the editorial archive
so you can see tone and usage.
Common questions
- Do I need to sign up to use this vocabulary page?
- No. Word pages are open to everyone. You can read meanings in English and Urdu, synonyms and antonyms, and example sentences without creating an account.
- Where do the example sentences come from?
- When available, example sentences are drawn from cached matches in our Dawn editorial corpus so you can see how a word is used in real newsroom-style prose.
- How is this different from a dictionary?
- This section is curated for students preparing for competitive exams and editorial reading. Entries are compact, often include Urdu glosses, and are paired with in-context lines from editorials when we have them.
