sparse

• POS: Adjective

CIDE DICTIONARY

sparse, a. [L. sparsus, p. p. of spargere to strew, scatter. Cf. Asperse, Disperse.].

•  Thinly scattered; set or planted here and there; not being dense or close together; as, a sparse population.  Carlyle.  [1913 Webster]
•  Placed irregularly and distantly; scattered; -- applied to branches, leaves, peduncles, and the like.  [1913 Webster]

sparse, v. t. [L. sparsus, p. p. of spargere to scatter.].

 To scatter; to disperse.  Spenser.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

sparse, adj. thinly dispersed or scattered; not dense (sparse population; sparse greying hair).

Derivative

sparsely adv. sparseness n. sparsity n.

Etymology

L sparsus past part. of spargere scatter

THESAURUS

sparse

almost unheard-of, at a premium, broadcast, cheeseparing, chinchy, chintzy, diffuse, discrete, dispersed, dispread, disseminated, dissipated, distributed, exiguous, in short supply, inappreciable, infrequent, insignificant, limited, little, meager, miserly, niggardly, not much, occasional, out of print, out of season, out of stock, piddling, poor, rare, scant, scanty, scarce, scattered, scrimp, scrimping, scrimpy, seldom met with, seldom seen, skimp, skimping, skimpy, slim, slow, spare, sparing, sporadic, spotty, spread, spread out, sprinkled, stingy, straggling, straggly, strewn, strown, thin, tight, uncommon, unfrequent, unique, unusual, widespread

ROGET THESAURUS

sparse

Dispersion

N nonassemblage, dispersion, dispersion, disjunction, divergence, aspersion, scattering, dissemination, diffusion, dissipation, distribution, apportionment, spread, respersion, circumfusion, interspersion, spargefaction, affusion, waifs and estrays, flotsam and jetsam, disjecta membra waveson, unassembled &c (assemble), dispersed, sparse, dispread, broadcast, sporadic, widespread, epidemic, adrift, stray, disheveled, streaming, sparsim, here and there, passim.