Paucity
hardPAW-sih-tee
noun
Definition
The presence of something in only small or insufficient quantities
Examples
“The paucity of evidence made prosecution difficult.”
“There was a paucity of qualified candidates for the position.”
Categories
GRE Tip
Paucity is a hard-difficulty GRE word. On the GRE, you might see it paired with synonyms like "scarcity" or "dearth" in Sentence Equivalence questions. Look for contrast clues (however, despite, although) that signal the opposite meaning. Words like "abundance".
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