a dearth of
not enough
TRANSLATION
dearth = Mangel a dearth of = ein Mangel an, zu knapp, nicht ausreichend --- GOOGLE INDEX dearth: approximately 2,000,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
DEARTH of Egypt fuel threatens Gaza's farmlands
(worldbulletin.net news portal)
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Blackman began her career as a computer programmer and TV scriptwriter before being spurred to write her first book because of a DEARTH of children's stories featuring black characters.
(BBC News)
(worldbulletin.net news portal)
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Blackman began her career as a computer programmer and TV scriptwriter before being spurred to write her first book because of a DEARTH of children's stories featuring black characters.
(BBC News)
Did you
know?
a dearth of
noun phrase
- an amount or supply that is not large enough
(Cambridge Dictionaries)
---
Dearth is a mid 13th century word that derives from "derthe," meaning scarcity. It is an abstract noun formed from the root of the Old English deore, meaning precious or costly (as in dear, which has the same root). It was originally used to refer to famines, when food was costly. This text from Shakespeare’s King Richard III illustrates this particular sense:
When clouds appear, wise men put on their cloaks,
When great leaves fall, the winter is at hand,
When the sun sets, who doth not look for night?
Untimely storms make men expect a dearth.
These days we can have a dearth of anything:
- In my time since moving to the United States, I've found that there is a dearth of great writing for black people. (David Oyelowo, actor)
- I don't know how you overcome the dearth of scientists in the government positions. (Nina Fedoroff, biologist)
- There's never a dearth of reasons to shoot at the President. (Don Delillo, novelist)
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SYNONYMS
deficiency, shortage, shortfall, paucity, insufficiency, scantiness, deficit, a lack of
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"A dearth of applicants is making it difficult to fill our open positions."
---
Thanks to Sabine for suggesting today’s word!
noun phrase
- an amount or supply that is not large enough
(Cambridge Dictionaries)
---
Dearth is a mid 13th century word that derives from "derthe," meaning scarcity. It is an abstract noun formed from the root of the Old English deore, meaning precious or costly (as in dear, which has the same root). It was originally used to refer to famines, when food was costly. This text from Shakespeare’s King Richard III illustrates this particular sense:
When clouds appear, wise men put on their cloaks,
When great leaves fall, the winter is at hand,
When the sun sets, who doth not look for night?
Untimely storms make men expect a dearth.
These days we can have a dearth of anything:
- In my time since moving to the United States, I've found that there is a dearth of great writing for black people. (David Oyelowo, actor)
- I don't know how you overcome the dearth of scientists in the government positions. (Nina Fedoroff, biologist)
- There's never a dearth of reasons to shoot at the President. (Don Delillo, novelist)
---
SYNONYMS
deficiency, shortage, shortfall, paucity, insufficiency, scantiness, deficit, a lack of
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"A dearth of applicants is making it difficult to fill our open positions."
---
Thanks to Sabine for suggesting today’s word!
