dense

American  

[dens] / dɛns /

adjective

• denser,
  comparative
• densest
  superlative

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

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Adjectives

• denser
  comparative
• densest
  superlative

Etymology

Origin of dense

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

Explanation

When woods are dense, the trees grow close together. When fog is dense, you can't see through it. And if someone calls you dense, they think nothing can get into your thick skull. Dense comes from the Latin densus which means thick and cloudy. In general, the word means packed tight and gives the sense that something is difficult to get through. Text can be dense in two different ways: when the words are packed closely together on the page, and when the text is filled with big words and complicated thoughts. Either way, reading dense text is just no fun.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dense denser densest

Sodium ion batteries are also not as energy dense as lithium ion batteries, meaning they must be slightly bigger and heavier in order to provide the same amount of power.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

Before JWST, researchers could not directly observe molecular hydrogen, but the team predicted that molecular winds should exist and could be dense enough during the earliest stages to block X-ray photons.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2026

They include the nine-year-old facility where Waddy works, which sits in a dense cluster known as Data Center Alley about an hour outside of Washington, D.C.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

I do like the Trailseeker’s front corners, skinned with dense, injection-molded plastic over sheet steel.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

The traffic around the theater was dense, but Old Timothy drove the horses through it like a man possessed.

From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood

The Times: Why did you oppose Senate Bill 79, which requires cities to allow taller, denser buildings near transit stops?

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026

That compression could have left behind a denser region below Stickney Crater, creating a subtle gravitational signature that scientists may be able to detect.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026

Although there is little scientific evidence, it's said the technique also results in a colder, denser product that will cool rather than dilute a cocktail.

From Barron's ● Sep. 6, 2026

The result is a denser and stronger network of neuronal connections that may enhance the brain's ability to process and store information.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 1, 2026

The crowds became denser, more suffocating as we approached the port.

From "Salt to the Sea" by Ruta Sepetys

Trace that hazy glow toward its densest region, and you will be looking in the direction of the center of the Milky Way galaxy.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 3, 2026

We walk Sham Shui Po, once among the city’s densest working-class food neighborhoods.

From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026

Skid Row, an area in downtown Los Angeles, has the densest concentration of homeless people in the county.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026

Black ones hold crude oil as well as the "heaviest" or densest products like bitumen.

From Barron's ● Apr. 26, 2026

The foragers were there before us and they brought about dramatic changes even in the densest jungles and the most desolate wildernesses.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

Related Words

• heavy
• impenetrable
• opaque
• solid