# scarce

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈskɛəs/ · frequency rank #12,856

## Definitions
1. Uncommon, rare; difficult to find; insufficient to meet a demand.
2. Scantily supplied (with); deficient (in); used with of.

## Etymology
From Middle English scars, scarse, from Old Northern French scars, escars ("sparing, niggard, parsimonious, miserly, poor"; > French échars, Medieval Latin scarsus (“diminished, reduced”)), of uncertain origin. One theory is that it derives originally from a Late Latin *scarpsus, *excarpsus, a participle form of *excarpere (“take out”), from Latin ex- + carpere; yet the sense evolution is difficult to trace. Compare Middle Dutch schaers (“scarce”), Middle Dutch schaers (“a pair of shears, plowshare”), scheeren (“to shear”).
The standard pronunciation having the /ɛə(ɹ)/ vowel instead of expected /ɑː(ɹ)/ is due to a tendency for Old and Middle French preconsonantal /ar/ to be borrowed as Middle English /aːr/ that only survives in this word and dace in the modern standard, but is more frequent in Early Modern English and traditional dialects; compare Scots gairden (“garden”), lairge (“large”).

## Easily confused with
- **space** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scarce-vs-space)
- **share** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scarce-vs-share)
- **score** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scarce-vs-score)
- **scary** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scarce-vs-scary)
- **spare** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scarce-vs-spare)
- **scare** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scarce-vs-scare)
- **stare** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scarce-vs-stare)
- **scars** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scarce-vs-scars)
- **scarf** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scarce-vs-scarf)
- **snare** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scarce-vs-snare)
- **source** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scarce-vs-source)
- **search** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scarce-vs-search)
- **scared** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scarce-vs-scared)
- **stance** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scarce-vs-stance)
- **starve** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scarce-vs-starve)
- **sparse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scarce-vs-sparse)
- **starch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scarce-vs-starch)
- **sharpe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scarce-vs-sharpe)
- **Searle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scarce-vs-searle)
- **scorch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/scarce-vs-scorch)

## Common misspellings (9)
`csarce`, `sacrce`, `scacre`, `scarcce`, `scarec`, `scarrce`, `sccarce`, `scrace`, `sscarce`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/scarce