dense

American  

[dens] / dɛns /

adjective

denser, densest

1. having the component parts closely compacted together; crowded or compact.

   a dense forest;

   dense population.

   Synonyms:

   impenetrable, teeming

2. stupid; slow-witted; dull.

3. intense; extreme.

   dense ignorance.

4. relatively opaque; transmitting little light, as a photographic negative, optical glass, or color.

5. difficult to understand or follow because of being closely packed with ideas or complexities of style.

   a dense philosophical essay.

6. Mathematics. of or relating to a subset of a topological space in which every neighborhood of every point in the space contains at least one point of the subset.

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dense British  

/ dɛns /

adjective

1. thickly crowded or closely set

   a dense crowd

2. thick; impenetrable

   a dense fog

3. physics having a high density

4. stupid; dull; obtuse

5. (of a photographic negative) having many dark or exposed areas

6. (of an optical glass, colour, etc) transmitting little or no light

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Other Word Forms

• densely adverb
• denseness noun
• nondenseness noun
• superdense adjective
• ultradense adjective

Etymology

Origin of dense

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin dēnsus “thick”; cognate with Greek dasýs

Example Sentences

They may contain dense central cores, but unlike Earth, they do not have solid surfaces you could stand on.

From Science Daily

That style is dense, intricate and sometimes impenetrable, and Ms. Serpell means to celebrate its difficulties while guiding us through them.

From The Wall Street Journal

Raman also has a record of supporting denser housing and opposing efforts to get involved in legal fights over proposed controversial development.

From Los Angeles Times

With so many trees down, the forest was not so dense and he could see clearly.

From Literature

According to Svenning, these trees often have thick leaves, dense wood, and long lifespans, and they are especially common in moist tropical and subtropical forests.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• heavy
• impenetrable
• opaque
• solid