scarce

"fresh vegetables were scarce during the drought";

"we hardly knew them"; "had scarcely rung the bell when the door flew open"; "would have scarce arrived before she would have found some excuse to leave";

"he hardly ever goes fishing"; "he was scarce sixteen years old"; "they scarcely ever used the emergency generator"; "I can hardly hear what she is saying"; "she barely seemed to notice him"; "we were so far back in the theater, we could barely read the subtitles";