READING  ボウ、とぼ-しい
MEANING  scarce
JLPT level N1 (full info & stroke order)
 
Words/compounds
とぼしい, ともしい
meagre, meager, scarce, limited, destitute, hard up, lacking, scanty, poor
きゅうぼう
poverty
びんぼうにん
poor man, pauper, the poor, the indigent
けつぼう
want, shortage, famine
きようびんぼう
Jack of all trades and master of none
 
Example sentences
乏しい
日本は資源が乏しい国にもかかわらず、国際貿易のお陰で経済大国に発展した。
Though it is poor in natural resources, Japan has become an economic superpower thanks to international trade.
 
彼の地理学の知識は乏しい。
His knowledge of geography is poor.
窮乏
彼はそんな窮乏の中でどうやって暮らしていたのか。
How did he make his living in such poverty?
貧乏人
裕福な人も貧乏人も死を恐れる。
The rich and the poor are afraid of death.
欠乏
浪費なければ欠乏なし。
Waste not, want not.
 
浪費は欠乏のもと。
Waste makes want.
 
Lookalikes
 
しば 
turf