dense

[dens]

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.

dense

/ 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

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of dense¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of dense¹

C15: from Latin densus thick; related to Greek dasus thickly covered with hair or leaves

Example Sentences

The batter is more liquid than solid, like crepe batter, while apple butter is dense, so resist the urge to get fancy.

From Salon

However, those dense ranks of cabinets eat up gigawatts of power and LLM training produces spikes in that appetite for electricity.

From BBC

The larvae among the species are aquatic, living among dense vegetation in wetlands, while the adults fly from spring until early August.

From BBC

A dense, scarlet mound of tomato in the center.

From Salon

"It was a very dense area," she added.

From BBC

Related Words

• heavy 
• impenetrable 
• opaque 
• solid