Learn English – What’s the difference between “scarce”, “rare” and “uncommon”

word-choice

According to a dictionary, all these words are quite synonymous. Is there any subtle difference in meaning?

I consulted the Free dictionary and found that:

scarce: Hard to find; absent or rare.

rare: Infrequently occurring; uncommon.

uncommon: Not common; rare.

Best Answer

All three talk about frequency of occurrence for something within a population of things

rare

does not occur as often as

uncommon

does not occur as often as

common
ordinary

"scarce" has more of an absolute meaning of "hard to find or obtain" sometimes do to very high demand or very low supply

Available tickets to the playoff finals are very scarce since everyone wants to go.

Snow in the Sahara is uncommon and would be a rare occurrence.
Potable water in the Sahara is scarce.

If you say something is "uncommonly good" it means it is "more than very good", however, if you say something is "rarely good" it means it is "not often good" or "usually bad".

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