From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishscarcityscar‧ci‧ty /ˈskeəsəti $ ˈsker-/ noun [singular] ENOUGH#a situation in which there is not enough of something SYN lackscarcity of the scarcity of employment opportunities
Examples from the Corpus
scarcity• The debate about the depletion of the ozone layer has been so far hampered by a scarcity of data.• Moreover, they suffer from a scarcity of books, and from pedagogical methods that rely on the memorization of class lectures.• An independence based upon an abundance of goodwill may be found even where there are scarcities in power resources.• Further, the justification that channel scarcity requires the government to regulate the content of broadcasting no longer exists.• The world is entering a period of protein scarcity, the report says.• The scarcity of medical supplies was becoming critical. 