[
UK
/skˈeəs/
]
[ US /ˈskɛɹs/ ]
[ US /ˈskɛɹs/ ]
ADVERB
-
almost not
they scarcely ever used the emergency generator
he hardly ever goes fishing
we were so far back in the theater, we could barely read the subtitles
she barely seemed to notice him
he was scarce sixteen years old
I can hardly hear what she is saying -
only a very short time before
we hardly knew them
had scarcely rung the bell when the door flew open
would have scarce arrived before she would have found some excuse to leave
ADJECTIVE
-
deficient in quantity or number compared with the demand
fresh vegetables were scarce during the drought
How To Use scarce In A Sentence
- They are very much secluded from the rest of Chiloe, and have scarcely any sort of commerce, except sometimes in a little oil, which they get from seal-blubber. Journal of researches into the geology and natural history of the various countries visited by H.M.S. Beagle
- The English were among the first to revive the "Louis XIV style" as it was miscalled at first, and paid inflated prices for second-hand Rococo luxury goods that could scarcely be sold in Paris.
- Freedom was alive as well, in a vivid and scarcely palatable way. Times, Sunday Times
- What is at stake in this novelty could scarcely be greater.
- Twice through the following night was I wakened by the boat being hurled upon her beam-ends by the blows of the seas; but she righted easily, and took scarce any water, the canvas proving a very roof of safety. The Boats of the 'Glen Carrig'
- Scarcely had I managed, helped by the second mate, Aaron Northrup, to lower away half-a-dozen barrels and kegs, when all cried from the boat that they were casting off. Chapter 19
- Expectations, helpfully, could scarcely be lower.
- In Athens they scarcely appear above the horizon, so the early Greek texts undermined their importance.
- Dio Cassius can scarcely be mistaken when he says that Tyre and Sidon were "enslaved" -- i.e. deprived of freedom -- by Augustus, [14477] who must certainly have revoked the privilege originally granted by Pompey. History of Phoenicia
- A big-jawed and relatively small-brained hominid known as Paranthropus consumed mainly nuts and other hard foods, causing it to die out as these resources became scarce in African habitats.
