sparsely
Americanadverb
-
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
Etymology
Origin of sparsely
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 populated Wyoming is one of the most conservative states in the country, where Republicans outnumber Democrats by more than 3 to 1.
From Reuters • May 12, 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 by Spanish colonists and far from both Mexico City and Madrid, the frontier in Florida proved next to impossible for the Spanish government to control.
From Textbooks • Dec. 30, 2014
Sparsely peopled waste countries have much the same customs all over the world.
From Ten Thousand Miles with a Dog Sled A Narrative of Winter Travel in Interior Alaska by Stuck, Hudson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
