1. scarce

deficient in quantity or number compared with the demand

Example Sentences:
'fresh vegetables were scarce during the drought'

Also See

• meager
• meagerly
• meagre
• scrimpy
• stingy

2. barely, hardly, just, scarce, scarcely

only a very short time before

Example Sentences:
'they could barely hear the speaker'
'we hardly knew them'
'just missed being hit'
'had scarcely rung the bell when the door flew open'
'would have scarce arrived before she would have found some excuse to leave'

Synonyms

• barely
• hardly
• just
• scarcely