dearth

Meanings

Plural: dearths

Noun

an acute insufficiency
an insufficient quantity or number
A period or condition when food is rare and hence expensive; famine.
Scarcity; a lack or short supply.
Dearness; the quality of being rare or costly.

Verb

To cause or produce a scarcity in something.

Origin / Etymology

First attested at least as early as the late 1300s, and appearing in Tyndale’s Pentateuch (1530) as well as the Coverdale Bible (1535). From Middle English derth, derthe, derþe, probably from Old English *dīerþ, *dīerþu, from Proto-West Germanic *diuriþu, from Proto-Germanic *diuriþō (“costliness, preciousness, honour”); corresponding to dear + -th (abstract nominal suffix). Cognate with Old Saxon diuriða (“glory, honour; preciousness”), West Frisian djoerte (“love, dearness, value, worth”), Dutch duurte (“dearness; scarcity, dearth”), Icelandic dýrð (“honour, glory”).

Synonyms

famine, lack, paucity, scarcity, shortage

Scrabble Score: 10

dearth is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
dearth is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
dearth is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 9

dearth is a valid Words With Friends word