scantiness

/'skæntinis/
Học thuật
Thân thiện
scantiness

The scantiness of the harvest worried the farmers.

Definition

Noun: 1. The quality or state of being meager, insufficient, or barely adequate: Scantiness refers to a condition of lacking in quantity, amount, or extent; it is the state of being scanty or inadequate. 2. A small or insufficient amount: It can also refer to the concrete result of this quality—a meager supply or a deficiency.

Usage

The noun "scantiness" is used to describe an abstract quality of insufficiency. It is often followed by "of" to specify what is lacking. - It highlights a notable and often undesirable shortage. - It is a formal term commonly found in written analysis, criticism, or description.

Examples
  • The scantiness of the evidence made a conviction impossible.
  • Historians have commented on the scantiness of reliable records from that period.
  • The report criticized the scantiness of funding for public health initiatives.
  • Due to the scantiness of rainfall this year, the farmers faced severe losses.
Advanced Usage
  • "Poverty and scantiness": Often used together to emphasize both material and qualitative lack.
    • The poverty and scantiness of their resources forced them to be inventive.
  • In literary or critical analysis, it can describe abstract concepts like information or detail.
    • The novel's weakness lies in the scantiness of its character development.
Variants and Related Words
  • Scanty (adjective): Small or insufficient in amount or quantity.
    • They made do with scanty supplies.
  • Scant (adjective): Barely sufficient or adequate.
    • He paid scant attention to the instructions.
  • Scantily (adverb): In a scanty manner; insufficiently.
    • The room was scantily furnished.
Synonyms
  • Meagerness (or Meagreness): The quality of being lacking in quantity or richness.
  • Insufficiency: The condition of being inadequate.
  • Paucity: The presence of something in only small or insufficient quantities.
  • Deficiency: A lack or shortage.
  • Sparseness: The quality of being thinly dispersed or scattered; scantiness.
Antonyms
  • Abundance: A very large quantity of something.
  • Plenitude: An abundance.
  • Sufficiency: The condition of being adequate.
  • Ampleness: The quality of being plentiful or spacious.
Idioms and Phrases

Note: "Scantiness" itself is not typically used in common idioms. However, the related adjective "scant" appears in phrases. - To pay scant regard/attention to something: To give very little consideration or attention to something. - The company paid scant regard to environmental regulations.

scantiness

The scantiness of the harvest worried the farmers.

Noun
  1. the quality of being meager
    • an exiguity of cloth that would only allow of miniature capes-George Eliot