sparse

[ spahrs ]

adjective

, spars·er, spars·est.

1. thinly scattered or distributed:

   a sparse population.

   Antonyms: abundant

2. not thick or dense; thin:

   sparse hair.

   Antonyms: abundant

3. scanty; meager.

   Antonyms: abundant

sparse

/ spɑːs /

adjective

1. scattered or scanty; not dense

Derived Forms

• ˈsparsely, adverb
• ˈsparseness, noun

Other Words From

• sparse·ly adverb
• spar·si·ty [spahr, -si-tee], sparse·ness noun
• un·sparse adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sparse¹

First recorded in 1715–25; from Latin sparsus, past participle of spargere “to scatter,” sparge

Word History and Origins

Origin of sparse¹

C18: from Latin sparsus, from spargere to scatter

Synonym Study

See scanty.

Example Sentences

She credits Bensimon, an iconic fashion photographer, with giving her a timeless style tip about the power of a plain T-shirt and sparse makeup.

From Los Angeles Times

Usually, engrams are made up of a sparse number of neurons, but the stress-induced memory engrams involved significantly more neurons.

From Science Daily

“Punish,” the latest offering from the Southern Gothic alt-pop star Ethel Cain, is a smoldering slow burn, a sparse piano ballad that stretches for nearly seven minutes and gradually corrodes.

From New York Times

Crusius, 21 years old, with wavy dark brown hair, sparse stubble collecting on his round chin, was awkward and introverted.

From Salon

The boos from the sparse crowd at the Intuit Dome rained down on George all game because he now was a Philadelphia 76er.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• inadequate
• infrequent
• meager
• scant
• scanty
• scarce
• skimpy
• sporadic
• thin