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
- unsparsely adverb
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.
In the sparsely populated Kuiper Belt, these distant bodies drift with relatively few collisions, allowing fragile structures to survive.
From Science Daily • Feb. 23, 2026
Amdjarass, which is home to several nomadic peoples, is located in far northeast of Chad, a vast, sparsely populated region renowned for its dramatic rock formations and desert landscapes.
From Barron's • Feb. 10, 2026
Greenland is sparsely populated but its location between North America and the Arctic makes it well placed for early warning systems in the event of missile attacks.
From BBC • Feb. 5, 2026
Though it wasn’t the sparsely green terrain or occasionally snowcapped mountains that caught his eye, it was instead the historic collection of white domes and solar towers that make up the Mount Wilson Observatory.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 30, 2026
I saw all around this forest hundreds of evenly scattered, identically sized ponds with trees sparsely distributed in a uniform way between them, the whole arrangement giving the unmistakable impression of following a design.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
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.
