sparsely

[spahrs-lee]

adverb

1. 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.

2. in a scanty or meager way.

   It was a large kitchen, but very sparsely equipped for cooking.

Other Word Forms

• unsparsely adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of sparsely¹

sparse ( def. ) + -ly

Example Sentences

Farsi doesn’t draw the ending out: just sparsely worded text after witnessing their final chat, followed by a video Hassona had taken rolling through her devastated city, somehow grounded in a palpable, undying everydayness.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

A credible if sparsely sketched camaraderie emerges among members of the caravan, with young Esteban in awe of these reckless wanderers.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Social distancing made for an eerie feeling inside a sparsely populated Hampden Park.

Read more on BBC

Most of the area burned by the Mountain fire was in a sparsely populated part of the Santa Susana Mountains north of Highway 118.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The St. George Reef Lighthouse, six miles off the coast of California’s sparsely populated northwest corner, stands atop a sheer rock surrounded by nothing but the cold, tempestuous Pacific.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• casually 
• delicately 
• easily 
• faintly www.thesaurus.com
• freely 
• gingerly 
• mildly 
• moderately 
• quietly 
• simply 
• slightly 
• softly 
• subtly 
• tenderly 
• thinly www.thesaurus.com