sparsity

American  

[spahr-si-tee] / ˈspɑr sɪ ti /

Also sparseness

noun

1. the fact or condition of being thinly scattered or distributed and not thick or dense.

   The size of these rural counties and the sparsity of their populations make it more costly to administer social services.

2. the fact or quality of being small in amount or number; scantiness.

   Not only is there a sparsity of rainfall in extremely arid deserts, but high evaporation rates soon remove whatever moisture it provides.

---

Other Word Forms

• unsparseness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of sparsity

First recorded in 1860–65; spars(e) ( def. ) + -ity ( def. )

Explanation

Sparsity is the condition of not having enough of something. You might notice the sparsity of hair on your grandpa's head — but if you're polite, you won't bring it up. You can talk about the sparsity of grass in your brown and patchy lawn, or the sparsity of customers at your mac-and-cheese food truck. Whenever there's a shortage, a lack, or a deficiency of something, it's in a state of sparsity. Sparsity comes from the Latin sparsus, the past participle of a verb meaning "to strew or scatter."

Example Sentences

Sparsity can arise in the tensor for a variety of reasons.

From Science Daily • Oct. 31, 2023

Sparsity of company is an aggravating factor: Fewer hikers means fewer people around to call for help.

From New York Times • Aug. 6, 2015

Sparsity of hair is generally an indication of shortage of lean meat, whilst curliness and coarseness of hair are far too frequently associated with excessive fat and coarseness of meat.

From The Pig Breeding, Rearing, and Marketing by Spencer, Sanders

Related Words

• dearth
• drought
• famine
• inadequacy
• insufficiency
• lack
• paucity
• shortage