dense

American  

[dens] / dɛns /

adjective

denser, densest

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.

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dense British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

• densely adverb
• denseness noun
• nondenseness noun
• superdense adjective
• ultradense adjective

Etymology

Origin of dense

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

Example Sentences

In this case, the textures appeared to preserve a dense layer of microbial life that existed more than 180 million years ago during the Early Jurassic.

From Science Daily • Apr. 3, 2026

Giant anteaters have black and white diagonal stripes, dense shaggy hair and super-sized snouts.

From BBC • Apr. 1, 2026

Since large galaxies typically form in dense clusters, this raised questions.

From Science Daily • Mar. 30, 2026

Most armed insurgents were limited to central Chhattisgarh state's Bastar region, a vast mineral-rich sprawl of dense forests and hills, roughly the size of The Netherlands.

From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026

It was a nerve-racking night of dense cloud and stormy weather, but when Marina got back to her airfield, a surprise was waiting for her.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

Related Words

• heavy
• impenetrable
• opaque
• solid