Scarce vs. Rare — What's the Difference?
Difference Between Scarce and Rare
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Compare with Definitions
Scarce
Uncommon, rare; difficult to find; insufficient to meet a demand.
Rare
Infrequently occurring; uncommon
A rare event.
A plant that is rare in this region.
Scarce
Insufficient to meet a demand or requirement; short in supply
Fresh vegetables were scarce during the drought.
Rare
Excellent; extraordinary
A rare sense of honor.
Scarce
Hard to find; absent or rare
Steel pennies are scarce now except in coin shops.
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Rare
Thin in density; rarefied
Rare air.
Scarce
Barely or hardly; scarcely.
Rare
Cooked just a short time so as to retain juice and redness
A rare steak.
Scarce
(archaic) Scantily supplied (with); deficient (in); used with of.
Rare
Very uncommon; scarce.
Black pearls are very rare and therefore very valuable.
Scarce
Scarcely, only just.
Rare
(of a gas) Thin; of low density.
Scarce
Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon.
You tell him silver is scarcer now in England, and therefore risen one fifth in value.
The scarcest of all is a Pescennius Niger on a medallion well preserved.
Rare
Good; enjoyable.
Scarce
Scantily supplied (with); deficient (in); - with of.
Rare
(cooking) Particularly of meat, especially beefsteak: cooked very lightly, so the meat is still red.
Well done
Scarce
Sparing; frugal; parsimonious; stingy.
Rare
(obsolete) Early.
Scarce
With difficulty; hardly; scantly; barely; but just.
With a scarce well-lighted flame.
The eldest scarcely five year was of age.
Slowly she sails, and scarcely stems the tides.
He had scarcely finished, when the laborer arrived who had been sent for my ransom.
Rare
(gaming) A scarce or uncommon item.
Scarce
Frugally; penuriously.
Rare
To rear, rise up, start backwards.
Scarce
Not enough; hard to find;
Meat was scarce during the war
Rare
To rear, bring up, raise.
Scarce
Deficient in quantity or number compared with the demand;
Fresh vegetables were scarce during the drought
Rare
Early.
Rude mechanicals that rare and lateWork in the market place.
Scarce
By a small margin;
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
Rare
Nearly raw; partially cooked; not thoroughly cooked; underdone; as, rare beef or mutton.
New-laid eggs, which Baucis' busy careTurned by a gentle fire, and roasted rare.
Rare
Not frequent; seldom met with or occurring; unusual; as, a rare event.
Rare
Of an uncommon nature; unusually excellent; valuable to a degree seldom found.
Rare work, all filled with terror and delight.
Above the rest I judge one beauty rare.
Rare
Thinly scattered; dispersed.
Those rare and solitary, these in flocks.
Rare
Characterized by wide separation of parts; of loose texture; not thick or dense; thin; as, a rare atmosphere at high elevations.
Water is nineteen times lighter, and by consequence nineteen times rarer, than gold.
A perfect union of wit and judgment is one of the rarest things in the world.
When any particular piece of money grew very scarce, it was often recoined by a succeeding emperor.
Rare
Not widely known; especially valued for its uncommonness;
A rare word
Rare books
Rare
Recurring only at long intervals;
A rare appearance
Total eclipses are rare events
Rare
Not widely distributed;
Rare herbs
Rare patches of gree in the desert
Rare
Marked by an uncommon quality; especially superlative or extreme of its kind;
What is so rare as a day in June
A rare skill
An uncommon sense of humor
She was kind to an uncommon degree
Rare
Having low density;
Rare gasses
Lightheaded from the rarefied mountain air
Rare
(of meat) cooked a short time; still red inside;
Rare roast beef
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