Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Dense
Dense
,Adj.
[L.
densus
; akin to Gr. [GREEK] thick with hair or leaves: cf. F. dense
.] 1.
Having the constituent parts massed or crowded together; close; compact; thick; containing much matter in a small space; heavy; opaque;
as, a
dense
crowd; a dense
forest; a dense
fog.All sorts of bodies, firm and fluid,
dense
and rare. Ray.
To replace the cloudy barrier
dense
. Cowper.
2.
Stupid; gross; crass;
as,
. dense
ignoranceWebster 1828 Edition
Dense
DENSE
, a.1.
Close; compact; having its constituent parts closely united; applied to solids or fluids; as a dense body; dense air.2.
Thick; as a dense cloud, or fog.Definition 2024
dense
dense
English
Adjective
dense (comparative denser, superlative densest)
- Having relatively high density.
- Compact; crowded together.
- Thick; difficult to penetrate.
- 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 13, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
- And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them.
-
- Opaque; allowing little light to pass through.
- Obscure, or difficult to understand.
- (mathematics, topology) Being a subset of a topological space that approximates the space well. See Wikipedia article on dense sets for mathematical definition.
- Of a person, slow to comprehend; of low intelligence.
Synonyms
- (having relatively high density): solid
- (crowded together): compact, crowded, packed
- (difficult to penetrate): thick, solid
- (allowing little light to pass through): cloudy, opaque
- (difficult to understand): abstruse, difficult, hard, incomprehensible, obscure, tough
- (slow to comprehend): dumb, slow, stupid, thick
Antonyms
- (crowded together): diffuse, few and far between (of things as opposed to one thing), scattered, sparse, rarefied (scientific, to describe gases)
- (difficult to penetrate): thin
- (allowing little light to pass through): clear, diaphanous, see-through, translucent, transparent
- (difficult to understand): clear, comprehensible, easy, simple, straightforward, understandable
- (in mathematics): meager
- (slow to comprehend): bright, canny, intelligent, quick, quick-witted, smart
Translations
having relatively high density
|
compact; crowded together
|
thick; difficult to penetrate
opaque; allowing little light to pass through
obscure, or difficult to understand
math: being a well-approximating subset
slow to comprehend; of low intelligence
Anagrams
Latin
Etymology
From densus (“close, crowded, dense”).
Adverb
densē (comparable densius, superlative densissimē)
- closely, in rapid succession
Related terms
References
- dense in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- dense in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- Félix Gaffiot (1934), “dense”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
- Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, 1st edition. (Oxford University Press)