Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Sparse, scarce, few and far between: Describes something that exists or appears in very small, scattered, or infrequent quantities, creating an impression of emptiness or rarity.
   • Detached, aloof (in feelings): An older or literary usage describing a state of emotional distance or distraction from someone or something.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Tin tức từ vùng chiến sự thơ thớt dần. (News from the war zone is becoming scarce.)
  • Trên cánh đồng chỉ thơ thớt vài bông hoa. (Only a few scattered flowers are seen in the field.)
  • Lòng anh ấy thơ thớt với gia đình sau chuyến đi. (His heart felt detached from his family after the trip.)

Advanced Usage

• This word often carries a poetic or descriptive nuance, emphasizing not just scarcity but also the resulting sense of space, loneliness, or diminished presence.
• It can describe abstract concepts (like news, feelings) as well as physical objects (like trees, people in a place).

Variants and Related Words

• Thưa thớt: A near-synonym more commonly used for physical spacing, meaning "thinly scattered" or "sparse."
  • Dân cư trong vùng này thưa thớt. (The population in this area is sparse.)

Synonyms

• Sparse: thinly dispersed or scattered.
• Scarce: insufficient to meet demand; rarely found.
• Infrequent: not occurring often.

Related Idioms

• Thơ thớt lòng: to have a distracted or distant heart; to be emotionally aloof.
  • Kể từ khi xảy ra chuyện, cô ấy cứ thơ thớt lòng với mọi người. (Since the incident happened, she has been emotionally distant from everyone.)