For today’s Monday Meanings, I thought I’d follow on from Friday’s post and my personal recent history by defining death and dearth.

Apart from an obvious similarity in spelling with one letter difference, death and dearth do have a certain similarity in meaning too. neither is a cheerful word and both are about a lack or loss. To me, both give the impression of barrenness, isolation and gloom.

Do you find these words similar or just words that happen to be spelt in a similar way?

Death (noun): the end of life, a cessation of being alive.
Liz was completely alone at the lighthouse after Jack’s death.

Dearth (noun): a scarcity or lack of something
There was a dearth of vegetation and colour in all directions.