Poor
Poor adjective - Less plentiful than what is normal, necessary, or desirable.
Usage example: a poor crop because of the drought this year
Scarce is a synonym for poor in inadequate topic. In some cases you can use "Scarce" instead an adjective "Poor", when it comes to topics like little, scanty, insufficient, meagre.
Scarce
Scarce adjective - Less plentiful than what is normal, necessary, or desirable.
Usage example: food was a bit scarce last winter
Poor is a synonym for scarce in inadequate topic. Sometimes you can use "Poor" instead an adjective "Scarce", if it concerns topics such as little, scanty, insufficient, meagre.
Mutual synonyms
Both words in one sentence
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Even if you get the hang of these bikes' poor turning abilities they are so scarce and valuable you won't use them much in anything.
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Since qualified Pioniere (combat engineers) were scarce, the terrain was marshy, and the infrastructure poor the Minensuchgerät 42 was ideally suited to operational requirements in Belarus.
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Definitely Truth in Television in poor nations without native industrial capacity, especially where high-tech imports are scarce.
Source: Scavenger World
Cite this Source
Scarce and Poor. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/poor/scarce
Poor & Scarce. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/poor/scarce>.
Scarce or Poor. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/poor/scarce.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "poor" and "scarce" have occurred on timeline