Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Smallness of number; fewness.
  • noun Scarcity; dearth.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Smallness of number; fewness.
  • noun Smallness of quantity; scantiness.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Fewness; smallness of number; scarcity; rarity.
  • noun Smallness of quantity; exiguity; insufficiency.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Fewness in number; too few.
  • noun A smallness in size or amount that is insufficient; meagerness, dearth.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an insufficient quantity or number

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English paucite, from Old French, from Latin paucitās, from paucus, few; see pau- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin paucitas ("a small number, fewness, scarcity"), from paucus ("few, little").

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Examples

  • Flash works when time is in paucity, and when readers need a tiny piece of wonderful writing to make them smile.

    How to Write Engaging Work in a Land of Rules 2010

  • “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.”

    Interpretations of American History Gerald N. Grob 1967

  • “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.”

    Interpretations of American History Gerald N. Grob 1967

  • Some writers would not use the word paucity in this place without first knowing the meaning of it, but I am not that way.

    Remarks Bill Nye 1873

  • 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.

    Print - Clear Blur | PopPolitics.com 2005

  • 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.

    Clear Blur | PopPolitics.com 2005

  • 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.

    Clear Blur | PopPolitics.com 2005

  • Impoverishment refers to a paucity of species in certain places; disharmony refers to unequal representation of species, or groups of species, in different places.

    The Song of The Dodo David Quammen 2004

  • Impoverishment refers to a paucity of species in certain places; disharmony refers to unequal representation of species, or groups of species, in different places.

    The Song of The Dodo David Quammen 2004

  • Recalling the paucity of firearms among the people on the boat he felt that a single weapon could be ill spared.

    The Jungle Fugitives A Tale of Life and Adventure in India Including also Many Stories of American Adventure, Enterprise and Daring Edward Sylvester Ellis 1878

Comments

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  • 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.)

    June 28, 2008

  • the paucity and heterogeneity of the available clinical research in some specific areas precluded this approach and favoured a narrative survey.

    January 13, 2010

  • Dictionary.com, A paucity of useful answers to the problem of traffic congestion at rush hour

    November 5, 2010

  • 'Mangel' TOP 10: 4)

    S: Scarcity / Scarceness, Sparsity / Sparseness, Absence, Lack, Deficiency

    A: Abundance, Affluance, Sufficiency, Plenty

    October 25, 2013