Meanings
comparative sparser · superlative sparsest
- Having widely spaced intervals.
a sparse array, index, or matrix
1 more example
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 58Synonyms: spread out
- Not dense; meager; scanty
Synonyms: insufficient
- mathematicsHaving few nonzero elements
present singular third person sparses · participle present sparsing · participle past sparsed · past sparsed
- obsoleteTo 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.Synonyms: besprenge, broadcast, desparple, discuss, disgregate, disparkle, disparple, dispel
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveHaving widely spaced intervals.
adjectiveNot dense; meager; scanty
verbTo disperse, to scatter.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivenot dense
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinsparsus
- Latinsparsus
- Englishsparse
Borrowed from Latin sparsus.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans yl, yl
- ylhaving widely spaced intervals
- ylnot dense; meager
Arabic ضَئِيل
- ضَئِيل (ḍaʔīl)not dense; meager
Bulgarian ря́дък
- ря́дък (rjádăk)having widely spaced intervals
Catalan dispers, espars
- dispershaving widely spaced intervals
- esparshaving widely spaced intervals
- clarnot dense; meager
- escàsnot dense; meager
Chinese Mandarin 稀疏, 寥寥
- 稀疏 (xīshū)having widely spaced intervals
- 寥寥 (liáoliáo)having widely spaced intervals
Czech řídký, řídký
- řídkýhaving widely spaced intervals
- řídkýnot dense; meager
Dutch verspreid, schaars
- verspreidhaving widely spaced intervals
- schaarsnot dense; meager
- dunnot dense; meager
- magernot dense; meager
Estonian hõre
- hõrehaving widely spaced intervals
Finnish harva, harva
- harvahaving widely spaced intervals
- harvanot dense; meager
French épars, clairsemé
- éparshaving widely spaced intervals
- clairseméhaving widely spaced intervals
German spärlich, spärlich
- spärlichhaving widely spaced intervals
- spärlichnot dense; meager
- dünnnot dense; meager
Hebrew דליל
- דליל (dalíl)having widely spaced intervals
Hindi विरल, विरल
- विरल (viral)having widely spaced intervals
- विरल (viral)not dense; meager
Hungarian ritka, ritkás
- ritkahaving widely spaced intervals
- ritkáshaving widely spaced intervals
- szórványoshaving widely spaced intervals
- gyérnot dense; meager
Irish tearc
- tearcnot dense; meager
Italian sparso, spargolo
- sparsohaving widely spaced intervals
- spargolohaving widely spaced intervals
Polish rzadki
- rzadkihaving widely spaced intervals
Portuguese esparso, disperso
- esparsohaving widely spaced intervals
- dispersohaving widely spaced intervals
- ralonot dense; meager
Romanian rar
- rarnot dense; meager
Russian ре́дкий, ре́дкий
- ре́дкий (rédkij)having widely spaced intervals
- ре́дкий (rédkij)not dense; meager
- разрежённый (razrežónnyj)having few nonzero elements
Slovak riedky
- riedkyhaving widely spaced intervals
Spanish disperso
- dispersohaving widely spaced intervals
Swedish gles
- gleshaving widely spaced intervals
Ukrainian рідки́й
- рідки́й (ridkýj)having widely spaced intervals
Vietnamese thưa, thưa thớt
- thưanot dense; meager
- thưa thớtnot dense; meager
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with sparse
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
sparse. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sparse
“sparse.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sparse. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sparse,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sparse.
Source: sparse on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.