sparse
UK /spɑːs/ · US /spɑːɹs/ adjective, verb
Forms sparser sparsest sparses sparsing sparsed
- adjective Having widely spaced intervals. “a sparse array, index, or matrix”
- adjective Not dense; meager; scanty
- adjective (mathematics) Having few nonzero elements
- verb (obsolete) To disperse, to scatter.
Synonyms
spread out insufficient thin paltry besprenge broadcast desparple discuss disgregate disparkle disparple dispel disperple disperse distribute dwindle straggle flurr insperse instrew
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin sparsus.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Thinly scattered; set or planted here and there; not being dense or close together; as, a sparse population. Carlyle.
- adjective Placed irregularly and distantly; scattered; --applied to branches, leaves, peduncles, and the like.
- verb To scatter; to disperse. [Obs.] Spenser.
Etymology [L. sparsus, p.p. of spargere to strew, scatter. Cf. Asperse, Disperse.]
Etymology [L. sparsus, p.p. of spargere to scatter.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “sparse”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details