Dearth

/dɜːθ/ · noun

Meaning

A period or condition when food is rare and hence expensive; famine..

Definitions by Sense

1. A period or condition when food is rare and hence expensive; famine.
2. (by extension) Scarcity; a lack or short supply.
3. (obsolete) Dearness; the quality of being rare or costly.
4. (transitive, dated, obsolete) To cause or produce a scarcity in something.

Example Sentences

I promise you, the effects he writes of succeed unhappily: as of unnaturalness between the child and the parent; death, dearth, dissolutions of ancient amities; divisions in state, menaces and maledictions against king and nobles; needless diffidences, banishment of friends, dissipation of cohorts, nuptial breaches, and I know not what.

And faine would hee, if he could tell how, haue plentie in his own fields, and scarcity in other mens; superfluitie at home, and dearth abroade, that hee might sell his corne at the dearer rate

Next a marsh, it would seem, and now mere earth / Desperate and done with; (so a fool finds mirth, / Makes a thing and then mars it, till his mood / Changes and off he goes!) within a rood— / Bog, clay and rubble, sand and stark black dearth.

A dearth of signalmen and the high cost of labour is hastening an elimination process that already was well under way before the second world war.

Similarly, at Cambridge, I observe what I had seen elsewhere - the dearth of tourists. The station would normally be awash with overseas visitors and students. Now it is quiet.

The dearth of A.I. chips has been exacerbated because Nvidia, a longtime provider of the chips, has a virtual lock on the market.

Whatsoever doth remaine for money, let Money-mongers, supply when they will. And I referre to Politicians to dispute among themselves whether the dearth of all things which most complaine of doeth proceede from plenty of gold and silver since the late discoveries, or from Monopolies, and combinations of Merchants and Craftsmen, or from Transportation of graine, or from pleasure of great personages, which doe most highly rate such things as they most like, or excesse in private persons, or to all these conjointly.

O God,heavenly Father, whose gift it is that the rain doth fall, the earth is fruitfull, beasts increase, and fishes do multiply: behold, we beseech thee, the afflictions of thy people, and grant that the scarcity and dearth (which we do now most justly suffer for our iniquitie) may through thy goodness be mercifully turned into cheapness and plenty…

Synonyms for dearth

Antonyms for dearth

Related Words

Word Forms

• dearths
• dearthing
• dearthed

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

Practice and Learn More

Frequently Asked Questions