dearth
Not nearly enough
Dearth is a scarcity or lack of something needed or desired: a dearth of qualified candidates, a dearth of good ideas.
The word typically appears in formal or literary contexts and almost always takes "of" after it.
Unlike shortage, which can apply to concrete goods, dearth tends toward abstract things—talent, evidence, opportunities.
Deficient supply of necessities
- lackDeficiency or absence
- insufficiencyShortfall in amount needed
- deficiencyLack of something needed
- sparsityLack of abundance
meagerness · want · inadequacy · scantiness · rarity · undersupply · privation · exiguity
Extreme poverty, lacking necessities
- penuryExtreme lack of money
- impoverishmentState of extreme deprivation
- indigenceExtreme poverty, total want
- wantTo desire something
neediness · deprivation · hardship · austerity · pauperism · beggary · pennilessness · hand-to-mouth
Without legal effect
- emptinessAbsence of substance
- vacuumAbsence of matter
- gapUnfilled space between
- lackDeficiency or absence
vacancy · blank · nothing · nil · zero · nonexistence · hollowness · blankness
Extreme nutritional deprivation
- hungerNeed for nourishment
- malnutritionDisease from dietary inadequacy
- crop failureWhen fields yield nothing
- droughtProlonged water scarcity
undernourishment · fasting · rations · subsistence · famished · emaciation · food crisis · hungering
shortage
Deficient supply of necessities
- lackDeficiency or absence
- insufficiencyShortfall in amount needed
- deficiencyLack of something needed
sparsity · meagerness · want · inadequacy · scantiness · rarity · undersupply · privation · exiguity · leanness
destitution
Extreme poverty, lacking necessities
- penuryExtreme lack of money
- impoverishmentState of extreme deprivation
- indigenceExtreme poverty, total want
want · neediness · deprivation · hardship · austerity · pauperism · beggary · pennilessness · hand-to-mouth · squalor
void
Without legal effect
lack · vacancy · blank · nothing · nil · zero · nonexistence · hollowness · blankness · nullity
starvation
Extreme nutritional deprivation
- hungerNeed for nourishment
- malnutritionDisease from dietary inadequacy
- crop failureWhen fields yield nothing
drought · undernourishment · fasting · rations · subsistence · famished · emaciation · food crisis · hungering · breadline
- availabilityavailable, unavailable, sold out, in stock, out of stock
- deprivationlack, deprivation, need, want, shortage
- hardshiphardship, adversity, difficulty, trouble, struggle
- quantitiessome, many, few, amount, several
- rarityrare, scarce, uncommon, infrequent, scant
- scarcityscarce, shortage, scant, scanty, lack
- dear GodExclamation of dismay
- my dearTerm of endearment
- oh dearMild expression of distress
- dear friendCherished intimate companion
- for dear lifeWith utmost urgency
- dear LordShocked invocation