In the sentence:

> もしにおいを説明するのに、「いい香り」と「臭い」しか言葉がなかったら寂しい。

I'm confused by the use of 寂しい. My interpretation of the general meaning of
the sentence is:

> Even if you explain/describe a smell, only having the words いい香り and 臭い to
> use makes your explanation limited.

But I wouldn't have thought 寂しい could be used to imply an insufficiency of
something (in this case, vocabulary, for the purpose of expressing something).
Am I on the right track?
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2016-07-27T00:00:35.943
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2016-07-27T16:45:58.543
2016-07-27T07:32:48.183
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question
words expressions
Can 寂しい be used to describe an insufficiency?
Using 寂しい in this way is common. "Makes your explanation limited" is probably
too objective as a translation of 寂しい. This 寂しい refers to a speakers
subjective impression, and it means "I would feel I'm missing something". Of
course the author is trying to share his/her feelings with the readers here,
but basically this 寂しい is his/her own feelings.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-27T02:41:54.937
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2016-07-27T02:41:54.937
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answer
I'd translate it to be: "It'd be **_sad_** to only have the words いい香り and
臭い...". In the sense that having only two words to describe smells would be a
[_lonely_ or
_desolate_](http://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E5%AF%82%E3%81%97%E3%81%84) set of
vocabulary.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-27T16:45:58.543
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2016-07-27T16:45:58.543
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answer