Paucity
noun ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Fewness in number; too few. countable, uncountable
"But when I had crossed the threshold, I was astonished at the paucity of facts to be gleaned from the inmates themselves."
- 2 an insufficient quantity or number wordnet
- 3 A smallness in size or amount that is insufficient; meagerness, dearth. countable, uncountable
"It cannot be denied it [the chameleon] is (if not the moſt of any) a very abſtemious animall, and ſuch as by reaſon of its frigidity, paucity of bloud, and latitancy in the winter (about which time the obſervations are often made) will long ſubſist without a viſible ſuſtentation."
Example
More examples"There was also a general paucity of trained operatives."
Etymology
From Middle English paucete, paucite, paucyte, partly from Middle French paucité and partly from its etymon, Latin paucitās (“a small number, fewness, scarcity”), from paucus (“few, little”). Related to few.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.