1. the state or quality of being scarce; shortage or lack of something
Usage: less common than ‘scarcity’

Examples

• The scarceness of water in the desert made survival difficult.
• Due to the scarceness of qualified teachers, class sizes increased.
• The scarceness of parking spaces downtown frustrated many drivers.
• Food scarceness during the drought affected the entire region.
• The scarceness of affordable housing has become a major issue.
• Researchers noted the scarceness of reliable data on the topic.