Synonyms

sparsely

American

[spahrs-lee] / ˈspɑrs li /

adverb

in a thinly distributed way; not thickly or densely.

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is very sparsely populated, as more than 90% of it is forested.
in a scanty or meager way.

It was a large kitchen, but very sparsely equipped for cooking.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

unsparsely

adverb

Etymology

Origin of sparsely

sparse ( def. ) + -ly

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Sparsely populated, Greenland's location between North America and the Arctic makes it ideally placed for missile early warning systems and for monitoring vessels in the region.

From BBC • Jan. 11, 2026

Sparsely vaccinated Ottawa County, Okla., in the state’s the far northeast corner, has reported Oklahoma’s largest per capita case increase and a 23 percent test positivity rate that suggests the true toll is even higher.

From Washington Post • Jul. 3, 2021

Sparsely populated North Dakota, where fortunes soared with the shale oil fracking boom, has lost more than 10,000 jobs, with some of its hastily built new housing now empty.

From New York Times • Oct. 23, 2015

Sparsely populated and with little in the way of industry, Goulburn Island is comprised largely of marshlands harboring an abundance of wildlife including crocodiles, fish, dugong, and turtles.

From Reuters • Mar. 23, 2015

Sparsely hirsute or glabrous, erect; leaves few, round-cordate, 5–7-parted, the cauline commonly with linear divisions; peduncles subracemose, long, filiform; flowers red-purple to white.—Kan. to Tex.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023