Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Smallness of number; fewness.
- n. Scarcity; dearth: a paucity of natural resources.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Smallness of number; fewness.
- n. Smallness of quantity; scantiness.
Wiktionary
- n. Fewness in number; a small number.
- n. Smallness in size or amount; meagerness.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Fewness; smallness of number; scarcity; rarity.
- n. Smallness of quantity; exiguity; insufficiency.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an insufficient quantity or number
Etymologies
- Middle English paucite, from Old French, from Latin paucitās, from paucus, few; see pau-1 in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“Flash works when time is in paucity, and when readers need a tiny piece of wonderful writing to make them smile.”
““The Progressive Era,” concluded Kolko, “was characterized by a paucity of alternatives to the status quo, a vacuum that permitted political capitalism to direct the growth of individualism in America, to shape its politics, to determine the ground rules for American civilization in the twentieth century, and to set the stage for what was to follow.””
“Some writers would not use the word paucity in this place without first knowing the meaning of it, but I am not that way.”
“The Blur frontman said he would not be taking part in Live 8 and called the paucity of African and black artists on the bill an “oversight” on the part of the organizers.”
“Impoverishment refers to a paucity of species in certain places; disharmony refers to unequal representation of species, or groups of species, in different places.”
“Recalling the paucity of firearms among the people on the boat he felt that a single weapon could be ill spared.”
“He came up with that conclusion after receiving a "paucity" of answers from Genachowski on the move.”
The Washington Post: Rep. Dingell tells FCC to drop move for broadband regulations
“MCN: You said at the Cable Show that you believed cable operators were not going to discriminate in their broadband business and you cited the 'paucity' of violations.”
“There are a lot of managers in the Premier League that would love to suffer with such "paucity" of resources.”
“Frank Field, an arch-critic of Mr Brown, attacked the "paucity" of the Government's programme, saying: "Week after week MPs have been turning up but with almost no serious work to do.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘paucity’.
-
GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
-
my fab list
blowsabella, aperçu, froideur, salubrious, abject, gallipot, mumchance, wainscot, virago, macerate, lascivious, clandestine and 181 more...
-
cicatrix
scar tissue
minatory, naira, Cluniac, embracive, prolix, hierophant, timorous, adduce, veracious, dysphoric, sang-froid, vitiate and 414 more...
-
November Words-11337
fiscal, assuage, prolix, shroud, laconic, paucity, mollify, nascent, burgeon, turgid, absenteeism, guise and 38 more...
-
pauc-, pauci-
few
lweber5@scf.edu Dictionary.com, A paucity of useful answers to the problem of traffic congestion at rush hour Nov 5, 2010
mn the paucity and heterogeneity of the available clinical research in some specific areas precluded this approach and favoured a narrative survey. Jan 13, 2010
vermontster I tell my students -- "Want in? Learn to drop 'a paucity of research in X.' You'll sound really impressive." (Dearth is last year - or last decade. Or something.) Jun 28, 2008