Spanish Conversation · Level 37
74 words
Spanish word
escaso
Pronunciation
IPA/esˈkaso/
Meaning
- adjectivefew
Example
En el cine hay escasos asientos.
There are few seats in the movie theater.
More examples
En el trabajo tengo escaso tiempo para descansar.
At work I have little time to rest.
Core concept
A nearly empty jar with a small remaining amount.
Common phrases
escaso tiempo
little time
escaso dinero
little money
Similar words
poco: A small amount or few units, neutral everyday word for count and mass quantities.
insuficiente: A quantity or degree that fails to reach the necessary or required level.
limitado: Having a restricted range or small allowance, emphasizing boundaries or limits.
reducido: Smaller than standard or original size, typically resulting from reduction.
Definition in Spanish
Indica que hay muy poca cantidad de algo, hasta el punto de no ser suficiente.
Word origin
It comes from Vulgar Latin *excassus (from Latin cassus 'empty') via Old Spanish escasso and denotes a state of scarcity.
Usage tips
- Escaso emphasizes insufficiency and commonly appears with uncountable nouns such as resources, time, or evidence, while poco/pocos is more common in casual speech or to mean 'a few' with countables.
Other meanings
- insufficientadjective
- meageradjective
Opposites
- abundanteabundantadjective
- suficientesufficientadjective