paucity

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)Fewness in number; too few.

   “But when I had crossed the threshold, I was astonished at the paucity of facts to be gleaned from the inmates themselves.”

   “For sheer paucity of railway facilities, probably the record in Great Britain is held by the Scottish county of Nairn, which has about eight miles of railway and two stations—Nairn and Auldearn.”

   “This paucity of trains helps to explain why electrification is not planned between Paris and Belfort.”

   “Your tax refund might be late, owing to a paucity of number crunchers.”

   “I have always argued that despite my opposition to rail privatisation, I should be grateful that John Major won the 1992 election on a platform to sell off the railways, as otherwise my column would have disappeared given the paucity of things to write about.”

2. (countable, uncountable)A smallness in size or amount that is insufficient; meagerness, dearth.

   “It cannot be denied it [the chameleon] is (if not the moſt of any) a very abſtemious animall, and ſuch as by reaſon of its frigidity, paucity of bloud, and latitancy in the winter (about which time the obſervations are often made) will long ſubſist without a viſible ſuſtentation.”

   “Now came shipwrecks and life in open boats, with the usual paucity of food.”

   “Here is where the paucity of our language is made manifest.”

   “Genteel America was handicapped by meagerness of soul, thinness of temper, paucity of talent.”

   “There are also texts that present more lengthy lists, of between ten and thirty examples, and in doing so include some less common terms. But, on the whole, there is at present a paucity of information about these terms.”