dearthy

English

Etymology

From dearth +‎ -y.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdɜː.θi/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdɝθi/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)θi

Adjective

dearthy (comparative dearthier or more dearthy, superlative dearthiest or most dearthy)

1. Marked by dearth; exhibiting scarcity, paucity, or lack.

   Synonyms: lacking, scarce, wanting

   • 1829, Principles of Natural and Metaphysical Philosophy:

     […] the natural has become the artificial; the noble and desirable, the dearthy and uninteresting; the simple the complex; the intelligible the unintelligible.

   • 1856, Jean Calvin, translated by Henry Cole, Calvin's Calvinism:

     In such a day as this, many a “little sanctuary” or worshipping knot of God's people (Ezek.11.16) may find the loved and deeply experienced Luther calculated, though dead, still to speak to their souls, through this his grand Testimony, more profitably, than many, or perhaps any, ministers they may be able to procure, in this dreary and dearthy last half of the nineteenth century.

   • 1915, The Bystander, volume 47, page 142:

     The dearth of new British cars grows dearthier.

   • 1971, Lawrence Lipsitz, Technology and Education, page 43:

     When the day of the cheap computer arrives, the problem of materials-dearth will only get dearthier because educational technology is still a writer's craft no matter what the medium of presentation is. So, where are the writers?

Antonyms

• abundant
• lush