dense

[ dens ]

adjective

, dens·er, dens·est.

1. having the component parts closely compacted together; crowded or compact:

   a dense forest;

   dense population.

   Synonyms: impenetrable, teeming

2. stupid; slow-witted; dull.
3. intense; extreme:

   dense ignorance.

4. relatively opaque; transmitting little light, as a photographic negative, optical glass, or color.
5. difficult to understand or follow because of being closely packed with ideas or complexities of style:

   a dense philosophical essay.

6. Mathematics. of or relating to a subset of a topological space in which every neighborhood of every point in the space contains at least one point of the subset.

dense

/ dɛns /

adjective

1. thickly crowded or closely set

   a dense crowd

2. thick; impenetrable

   a dense fog

3. physics having a high density
4. stupid; dull; obtuse
5. (of a photographic negative) having many dark or exposed areas
6. (of an optical glass, colour, etc) transmitting little or no light

Derived Forms

• ˈdensely, adverb
• ˈdenseness, noun

Other Words From

• densely adverb
• denseness noun
• non·denseness noun
• super·dense adjective
• ultra·dense adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of dense¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin dēnsus “thick”; cognate with Greek dasýs

Word History and Origins

Origin of dense¹

C15: from Latin densus thick; related to Greek dasus thickly covered with hair or leaves

Example Sentences

A key Los Angeles City Council committee signed off on a sweeping rezoning plan Tuesday that would focus new market rate and affordable housing on commercial corridors and in existing dense residential neighborhoods.

From Los Angeles Times

Starting out in Igneada, in the north of the country, he walked along a slippery, uneven trail for half a day, through dense forest and sharp shrubbery in the direction of Bulgaria.

From BBC

SinoProbe II’s network will be twice as dense, with sensors placed 35 kilometers apart for higher resolution.

From Science Magazine

“Noid” was dense and menacing, Tyler’s flow somewhere between a growl and a yowl; “Darling, I” was light and whimsical but almost painfully yearning too.

From Los Angeles Times

These early Aboriginal communities used fire to penetrate and modify dense, wet forest for their own use -- as indicated by a sudden increase in charcoal accumulated in ancient mud 41,600 years ago.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• heavy
• impenetrable
• opaque
• solid