sparse

/spɑ:s/

Thân thiện

The trees were sparse on the dry, grassy hillside.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Existing in small amounts or numbers and spread out over an area: Describes something that is thinly scattered or distributed, not dense or crowded.
   • Meager or scanty: Indicates a small, insufficient quantity.

Usage

The adjective sparse is used to describe the distribution or quantity of things, such as population, vegetation, hair, or data. It emphasizes a lack of density or abundance. It is often used with nouns like population, vegetation, hair, information, traffic, or rainfall.

Examples

• The sparse population of the desert makes it a lonely place.
• Due to the drought, the grass on the hillside was very sparse.
• He has sparse gray hair.
• The report contained only sparse details about the incident.
• Sparse traffic on the highway allowed for a quick commute.

Advanced Usage

• "sparse matrix" (in mathematics/computer science): A matrix in which most of the elements are zero.
  • The algorithm is optimized for handling sparse matrices efficiently.
• "sparse data": A dataset containing many missing values or a low density of information.
  • Making accurate predictions with such sparse data is challenging.

Variants and Related Words

• Sparsely (adverb): In a sparse manner; thinly.
  • The land is sparsely populated.
• Sparseness / Sparsity (nouns): The state or quality of being sparse.
  • The sparseness of the vegetation was striking.

Synonyms

• Thin: Having little density or fullness.
• Scanty: Barely sufficient or inadequate in amount.
• Meager: Lacking in quantity or quality.
• Scattered: Occurring or found at intervals rather than together.

Antonyms

• Dense: Closely compacted in substance; crowded.
• Thick: With a large number of things in a unit area.
• Abundant: Existing or available in large quantities.
• Plentiful: Existing in great quantity.

Related Phrases and Idioms

• "thin on the ground": Rare or few in number (similar in meaning to sparse when referring to people or things).
  • Skilled technicians are thin on the ground in this region.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. not dense
   • a thin beard
   • trees were sparse

Từ đồng nghĩa

• thin