SPARSE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does sparse mean? 

• SPARSE (adjective)
  The adjective SPARSE has 1 sense:

1. not dense

  Familiarity information: SPARSE used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SPARSE (adjective)

Comparative: sparser   
Superlative: sparsest   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Not dense

Synonyms:

sparse; thin

Context example:

trees were sparse

Similar:

distributed (spread out or scattered about or divided up)

Derivation:

sparseness; sparsity (the property of being scanty or scattered; lacking denseness)

 Context examples 

It's so sparse that you see all of the galaxies behind it.

(Dark Matter Goes Missing in Oddball Galaxy, NASA)

Irregular connective tissue, the intercellular matrix of which contains a sparse irregular network of collagen and elastic fiber bundles.

(Loose Connective Tissue, NCI Thesaurus)

It is characterized by short-limb dwarfism, presence of fine sparse hair, and T-and B-cell immunodeficiency.

(Cartilage Hair Hypoplasia, NCI Thesaurus)

It is characterized by severe mental retardation, prominent forehead, sparse temporofrontal hair, hypertelorism, short nose, and streaks of hypopigmented skin.

(Pallister-Killian Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)

But for galaxy NGC 1600, the giant black hole’s mass far overshadows the mass of its relatively sparse bulge.

(Behemoth Black Hole Found in an Unlikely Place, NASA)

Until now, little attention has been paid to African rainforests, where ground measurements are even sparser than in the Amazon and where droughts are less severe but last longer.

(NASA finds drought may take toll on Congo rainforest, NASA)

This pattern suggests that the human hippocampus uses a sparse distributed code to store episodic memories.

(Storing memories of recent events, NIH)

It is characterized by a distinctive facial appearance (high forehead, short nose, and widely spaced eyes), sparse and brittle hair, skin disorders, heart malformations, mental retardation and developmental delay.

(Cardiofaciocutaneous Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)

Late in the afternoon he followed a stream, milky with lime, which ran through sparse patches of rush-grass.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Still talking, Mr. Ford led him into the general office, where he introduced him to the associate editor, Mr. White, a slender, frail little man whose hand seemed strangely cold, as if he were suffering from a chill, and whose whiskers were sparse and silky.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)