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Where does the word dearth come from?
Dearth has, in one form or another, been used to refer to scarcity since at least the 13th century, when it often referred specifically to the plague of famine (as in “a time of dearth”), whether brought on by an insidious crop disease or by invaders. The word traces back to the Old English adjective dēore, meaning “dear” (dēore is also the ancestor of dear, which also once meant “scarce,” though that sense is now obsolete). That notion of dearness or importance endures in dearth, which implies the absence or scarcity of not just any old thing, but of something one wants or needs. A dearth of mauls, for example, would be the bane of a woodcutter’s existence.
Examples of dearth in a Sentence
Julie Bosman, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2006
… Earnhardt has recently hinted that a company-wide dearth of talent is the core reason his Chevy simply isn't as fast in 2005 as it's been in the past.
—Lars Anderson, Sports Illustrated, 11 Apr. 2006
AirNet, which hauls bank checks and other time-critical freight, used to require that its pilots have at least 1,200 hours of flight experience. Then, faced with a dearth of experienced applicants, it dropped the requirement to 500 hours. Now, it has no minimum.
—Scott McCartney, Wall Street Journal, 10 Aug. 2000
there was a dearth of usable firewood at the campsite
the dearth of salesclerks at the shoe store annoyed us
Tony Holt, Arkansas Online, 7 Apr. 2025
As an example, sciences like process chemistry and organic chemistry are a dying art in the U.S., and there have been a dearth of students going into these disciplines.
—Steve Brozak, Forbes.com, 3 Apr. 2025
Astronomers are finding exoplanets of myriad sizes and masses, but there seems to be a dramatic dearth of worlds between about 1.8 and 2.4 times the radius of Earth.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 31 Mar. 2025
Despite a dearth of IPOs, the highest-profile startups have been able to raise cash from hedge funds, private equity firms and sovereign wealth funds, which have all jumped into the late-stage venture capital game.
—Ari Levy, CNBC, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dearth
Cite this Entry
“Dearth.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dearth. Accessed 13 Apr. 2025.
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