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sparse

(spärs)

adj. spars·er, spars·est

Occurring, growing, or settled at widely spaced intervals; not thick or dense.

[Latin sparsus, past participle of spargere, to scatter.]

sparse′ly adv.

sparse′ness, spar′si·ty (spär′sĭ-tē) n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

sparse

(spɑːs)

adj

scattered or scanty; not dense

[C18: from Latin sparsus, from spargere to scatter]

ˈsparsely adv

ˈsparseness, ˈsparsity n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sparse

(spärs),
adj. spars•er, spars•est.

1. thinly scattered or distributed; not thick or dense.

2. scanty; meager.

[1715–25; < Latin sparsus, past participle of spargere to scatter, sparge]

sparse′ly, adv.

sparse′ness, spar′si•ty, n.

syn: See scanty.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.

sparse - not dense; "a thin beard"; "trees were sparse"

thin

distributed - spread out or scattered about or divided up

sparse

adjective scattered, scarce, meagre, sporadic, few and far between, scanty Many slopes are rock fields with sparse vegetation.
thick, lavish, dense, lush, plentiful, luxuriant, crowded, numerous

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

sparse

adjective

Conspicuously deficient in quantity, fullness, or extent:

exiguous, meager, poor, puny, scant, scanty, skimpy, spare, stingy, thin.

Slang: measly.

Translations

مُتَفَرِّق، مُتَناثِر

řídký

sparsom

spärlich karg

αραιός

clairsemé insuffisant maigre rare

dreifîur, strjáll

retstrūcīgs

sparse

[spɑːs] ADJ (sparser (compar) (sparsest (superl))) (= thin) → escaso; (= dispersed) → disperso, esparcido; [hair] → ralo
sparse furnishings → muebles mpl escasos
sparse population → poca densidad f de población

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

sparse

[ˈspɑː^rs] adj [vegetation, hair, population] → clairsemé(e); [traffic] → peu abondant(e); [resources, information] → épars(e)

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

sparse

adj → spärlich; covering, vegetation also → dünn; hair → dünn, schütter; furnishings, data, resources → dürftig

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

sparse

[spɑːs] adj (-r (comp) (-st (superl))) (vegetation, hair) → rado/a; (population) → scarso/a

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

sparse

(spaːs) adjective

thinly scattered. sparse vegetation.

ˈsparsely adverb

ˈsparseness noun

References in periodicals archive ?

Planting elements radiate out from a dense core (historically the densely cultivated fertile ground used for vegetable growing) to a sparser area on the upper slopes (usually given over to grazing).

192 Landscapes of cohabitation

Its fur is coarser than other species of brown bear but also sparser, and the color varies from straw to a gray-brown.

Syrian Brown Bear, Animal of 2010

ANTONY AND THE JOHNSONS - SWANLIGHTS THIS is the fourth album from Mercury Prize winner Antony Hegarty and his collaborators and, though it seems impossible, it offers an even sparser, more delicate and mysterious sound than before.

newalbums

With the abundance of discount offerings downtown and even in midtown, drawing tenants out to the far West Side, where transportation infrastructure is less robust and neighborhood amenities such as restaurants sparser than more central areas of Manhattan, has been a tough sell.

Coach expands to 200,000 s/f

We shall analyse the dataset with high resolution "as it is" and its sparser modifications, and compare the results in the scope of the characteristics, describing the dynamic behaviour of the irradiance.

Fast changes of the solar irradiance/Paikese kiiritustiheduse kiired muutused

His colourism waned, a dry linearity increased, the compositions became sparser and their mood more sombre.

The enigmas of Arshile Gorky: David Anfam applauds a compelling reappraisal of Gorky's art that defies the biographical cliches surrounding the painter and his tragic death

But the number of top leaders is sparser than in years past.Aa

Sober Davos forum eyes banking reforms, Haiti aid on 40th anniversary

While a few of the numbers here almost scream of over-arrangement, the sparser, more acoustic songs, such as "To The One I Love" and "Meet You in the Middle," have the type of vocal honesty and rawness found on her 2002 album of soul covers, How Sweet it Is.

Joan Osborne: Little Wild One

As local authorities throughout Wales switch off street lights - and I don't mean the sparser than usual festive illuminations - so they can afford to collect the bins once a fortnight, the office parties will of course still be in full swing in the corridors of power in Cardiff and London.

Party now... make politicians pay later

For children, CAM data are even sparser. As all pediatricians know, kids are not little adults.

Gatekeeper in the growing flood of CAMs

Now the marketing spend is sparser, more efficient, and more defused.

Interesting times

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