spare
verb (used with object)
to refrain from harming or destroying; leave uninjured; forbear to punish, hurt, or destroy.
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.
Christopher Rountree, Long Beach Opera’s music director, conducts an ensemble of nine, but often the instrumental textures are sparer than even those modest forces.
From New York Times ● Feb. 20, 2023
Both Churchill and Zelenskyy inspired with their rhetoric, though Churchill’s words were more grandiose, while the Ukrainian leader’s message is sparer and more direct.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 23, 2022
In this cosmos of text, the white squiggles become sparer at the outskirts, like stars at the edge of a galaxy.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 8, 2022
Though its sparer instrumentation deviates from the futuristic electronic synthesis of “Running Up That Hill,” it shares in the song’s openness and wonder, in its enlightened feeling of breaking through.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2022
I had never remarked there before; and he looked sparer in person.
From Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
