Which to use
“scarce” is an adjective and “source” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,856
- “scarce” frequency rank
- #743
- “source” frequency rank
- 13599
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | scarce | source |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Uncommon, rare; difficult to find; insufficient to meet a demand. | The person, place, or thing from which something (information, goods, etc.) comes or is acquired. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set scarce and source apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
scarce and source form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13599, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
scarce is recorded at frequency rank #12,856, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈskɛəs/. source is at rank #743, tagged as anoun, pronounced /sɔːs/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 13599, this pair ranks #474,853 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "scarce" and "source" be used interchangeably?
Remembering scarce vs source
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “scarce”; for a noun, it's “source”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “scarce” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable