sparse
/spɑːs/US/spɑːɹs/
sparse adjective: having widely spaced intervals.
Adjective
sparse (comparative sparser, superlative sparsest)
- Having widely spaced intervals.
- a sparse array, index, or matrix
- The Leicester to Grimsby service will become hourly throughout (with some extensions to Cleethorpes as at present), while a new hourly Peterborough to Doncaster service via Spalding, Sleaford and Lincoln will join up two routes with a sparse service at present.2019 October, Tony Miles, Philip Sherratt, “EMR kicks off new era”, in Modern Railways, page 58
- Synonyms:
- spread out
- Not dense; meager; scanty
- Synonyms:
- insufficient
- Having few nonzero elements
Verb
sparse (third-person singular simple present sparses, present participle sparsing, simple past and past participle sparsed)
- To disperse, to scatter.
- They began properly to ſparſe pretye rumours in the North, that no man ſhulde eate whyte breade, no man eate pygge, gooſe, or capon, without he agreed before with the kynge.1536, [Richard Morison], A Remedy for Sedition, London: […] Thomae Bertheleti […], →OCLC, signature F. i.
sparse meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
sparse in Hindi
- having widely spaced intervals
- विरल viral
- not dense; meager
- विरल viral
sparse in Tamil
- அடர்த்தியற்ற, அங்கொன்றும் இங்கொன்றும், திக்காலுக்கு ஒன்று
sparse in Urdu
- چھدرا, کم, قلیل
sparse in Bengali
- sparse
- বিরল birôl
More languagesFewer languages
- sparse in Malayalam
- ചിതറിക്കിടക്കുന്ന, അപൂർവ്വമായ, സ്വല്പമായ, വിരളമായ
- sparse in Kannada
- ತೆಳು teḷu
- sparse in Odia
- ପତଳା pataḷā
- sparse in Assamese
- তাকৰীয়া takoria, সেৰেঙা xereṅa
- sparse in Arabic
- ضَئِيل ḍaʔīl
- sparse in Vietnamese
- thưa, thưa thớt
Examples of sparse in a sentence
- The comic-book artist was renowned for his sparse yet evocative inkwork.
- This article's sparse discussion of tax-policy implications shortchanges the subject.
- Munro’s role as a stratocrat is visible less through his sparse writings than in his own career.
Synonyms of sparse
26 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of sparse
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | sparser |
| superlative | sparsest |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | sparses |
| present participle | sparsing |
| past participle | sparsed |
| past | sparsed |
Origin of sparse
Borrowed from Latin sparsus.
Words formed from sparse
Phrases with sparse
Words that rhyme with sparse
Questions about sparse
- What does sparse mean?
- Sparse means having widely spaced intervals.
- What is sparse in Hindi?
- Sparse in Hindi is विरल (viral). See Sparse meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is sparse?
- Sparse can be an adjective or a verb.
- How do you pronounce sparse?
- Sparse is pronounced /spɑːs/ (UK).
Words near sparse in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: sparse (page history and authors); sparse (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); sparse (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); বিরল (Bengali) (page history and authors); sparse (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ತೆಳು (Kannada) (page history and authors); ପତଳା (Odia) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Gibraltar Rocks-sparse.wav.
Cite this entry: “sparse.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sparse. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.