sparsely
Americanadverb
-
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.
-
in a scanty or meager way.
It was a large kitchen, but very sparsely equipped for cooking.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sparsely
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.
Hilton leads in the state’s more sparsely populated and conservative-leaning areas, including the Central Valley and North Coast/Sierra region.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Many of France’s most sensitive defense facilities were deliberately built in sparsely populated, forested areas, away from major population centers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
These differences made sense given that the environment they live in has much smaller, more sparsely distributed prey than other leopard habitats.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 24, 2026
Highland Council said its region, which has large, sparsely populated areas, offered stargazers some of the darkest skies in Europe.
From BBC ● May 28, 2026
I push him down the hallway and through one of the doors to a sparsely furnished room near the dormitory.
From "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
