sparse
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
spread out over a large area with a lot of space between things.
distributed in a thin or scattered fashion; having widely spaced intervals.
Simple“The desert has only sparse vegetation because there is very little water.”
In context“The region is characterized by sparse settlements, with small villages separated by miles of rugged, uninhabited terrain.”
Synonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
not enough of something; very little or thin.
meager or scanty in amount or degree; lacking in abundance.
Simple“Information about the accident was sparse during the first few hours.”
In context“Details regarding the merger remain sparse, as both companies have declined to comment until the legal review is complete.”
- 03 C1 Advanced
used in math or computing to describe a group of data where most values are zero.
relating to a matrix or data set in which most of the elements are zero or null.
Simple“The computer program runs faster because it uses a sparse matrix.”
In context“Efficient algorithms for sparse matrices are essential in large-scale simulations where storing every zero would exhaust the available memory.”
UsageCommonly used in the phrase 'sparse matrix'.
Antonyms
Borrowed from Latin sparsus.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.