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Spell Bee Word: dearth


Basic Details

Word: Dearth

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: A shortage of something; not having enough of it.

Synonyms: shortage, scarcity, lack, want

Antonyms: abundance, plenty, surplus

How to Spell Dearth

Syllables: dearth

Tricky part: It is said like derth but spelt with ea, the same as earth.

Watch out for: derth, dirth, dearthe

Memory tip: Put a d in front of earth and you have dearth.

Usage Examples

Example 1: There is a dearth of good doctors in many villages.

Example 2: The dearth of rain this year has dried up the pond.

Example 3: Our library has no dearth of story books.

Fun Fact

Dearth grew from dear in its old sense of costly. In Middle English it meant famine, a time when food was scarce and so very dear.

Practise the CREST Way

Word Connection

Choose the antonym of the word: dearth

a) scarcity
b) abundance
c) lack
d) shortage

Show answer

b) abundance. Abundance means more than enough, the opposite of a dearth; the other three are synonyms.

Word Cookie

Find the extra letter in the word:

dearthe

a) t
b) a
c) e
d) h

Show answer

c) e. Dearth ends in th, just like earth, with nothing after the h.

Mingle-Mangle

Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:

hrtdae

a) dearth
b) heard
c) dearest
d) death

Show answer

a) dearth. Death is short of an r and heard of a t; dearth uses all six letters.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. A dearth of water means there is ____.

a) clean water
b) cold water
c) too much water
d) not enough water

Show answer

d) not enough water

2. Which sentence uses dearth correctly?

a) There was a dearth of seats, so many people stood.
b) She wore a lovely dearth to the party.
c) The dearth sang sweetly.
d) He ran a dearth around the field.

Show answer

a) There was a dearth of seats, so many people stood.

Associated Words

affirmindustriousprioritycompressstudious
infertileavailablecelestialboyhoodsteadily

Next steps

How to participate in CREST International Spell Bee

The CREST International Spell Bee (CSB) is conducted in two editions – CREST International Spell Bee - Summer (CSB) and CREST International Spell Bee - Winter (CSBW) – giving students across the globe an opportunity to showcase and enhance their spelling proficiency. Designed for young learners from Senior KG to Class 8, the competition focuses on word-building, pronunciation, and vocabulary enrichment, helping students develop strong linguistic skills.

Steps to Participate:

Step 1: Visit the registration page and complete the registration with your desired subject.

Step 2: After Registration done, do login at www.crestolympiads.com/login.

Step 3: After login, go to dashboard and click on Book slot/Take Exam

Step 4: Schedule your exam date and preferred time.

Step 5: Log in with your credentials on the exam day at the scheduled time and take the exam.

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