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: S Sè Sé S- S. S/ Sa Sb Sc Sd Se Sf Sg Sh Si Sj Sk Sl Sm Sn So Sp Sq Sr Ss St Su Sv Sw Sy Sz

Table of Contents POS
WORDNET DICTIONARY
CIDE DICTIONARY
OXFORD DICTIONARY
THESAURUS
ROGET THESAURUS

sparse

POS

Adjective

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WORDNET DICTIONARY

Adjective sparse has 1 sense

sparse(s = adj.all) thin - not dense; "a thin beard"; "trees were sparse"

Derived forms noun sparseness₁, noun sparsity₁

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CIDE DICTIONARY

sparse, a. [L. sparsus, p. p. of spargere to strew, scatter. Cf. Asperse, Disperse.].

Thinly scattered; set or planted here and there; not being dense or close together; as, a sparse population. Carlyle. [1913 Webster]
Placed irregularly and distantly; scattered; -- applied to branches, leaves, peduncles, and the like. [1913 Webster]

sparse, v. t. [L. sparsus, p. p. of spargere to scatter.].

To scatter; to disperse. Spenser. [1913 Webster]

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OXFORD DICTIONARY

sparse, adj. thinly dispersed or scattered; not dense (sparse population; sparse greying hair).

Derivative

sparsely adv. sparseness n. sparsity n.

Etymology

L sparsus past part. of spargere scatter

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THESAURUS

sparse

almost unheard-of, at a premium, broadcast, cheeseparing, chinchy, chintzy, diffuse, discrete, dispersed, dispread, disseminated, dissipated, distributed, exiguous, in short supply, inappreciable, infrequent, insignificant, limited, little, meager, miserly, niggardly, not much, occasional, out of print, out of season, out of stock, piddling, poor, rare, scant, scanty, scarce, scattered, scrimp, scrimping, scrimpy, seldom met with, seldom seen, skimp, skimping, skimpy, slim, slow, spare, sparing, sporadic, spotty, spread, spread out, sprinkled, stingy, straggling, straggly, strewn, strown, thin, tight, uncommon, unfrequent, unique, unusual, widespread

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ROGET THESAURUS

sparse

Dispersion

N nonassemblage, dispersion, dispersion, disjunction, divergence, aspersion, scattering, dissemination, diffusion, dissipation, distribution, apportionment, spread, respersion, circumfusion, interspersion, spargefaction, affusion, waifs and estrays, flotsam and jetsam, disjecta membra waveson, unassembled &c (assemble), dispersed, sparse, dispread, broadcast, sporadic, widespread, epidemic, adrift, stray, disheveled, streaming, sparsim, here and there, passim.

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