dense

Etymology

From Middle French dense, from Latin densus.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA^(key): /dɛns/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛns

Adjective

dense (comparative denser, superlative densest)

1. Having relatively high density.

   Synonym: solid

2. Compact; crowded together.

   Synonyms: compact, crowded, packed

3. Thick; difficult to penetrate.

   Synonyms: thick, solid

   Antonym: thin

   • 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.

4. Opaque; allowing little light to pass through.

   Synonyms: cloudy, opaque

   Antonyms: clear, diaphanous, see-through, translucent, transparent

5. Obscure, or difficult to understand.

   Synonyms: abstruse, difficult, hard, incomprehensible, obscure, tough

   Antonyms: clear, comprehensible, easy, simple, straightforward, understandable

6. (mathematics, topology) Being a subset of a topological space that approximates the space well. See Wikipedia article on dense sets for mathematical definition.

   Antonym: meager

7. (of a person) Slow to comprehend; of low intelligence.

   Synonyms: dumb, slow, stupid, thick

   Antonyms: bright, canny, intelligent, quick, quick-witted, smart

Noun

dense (plural denses)

1. A thicket.

Anagrams

• Denes, Edens, Sneed, denes, edens, needs, sende, sneed

Etymology

From densa +‎ -e.

Adverb

dense

1. densely

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin densus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɑ̃s/

• audio

  (file)

Adjective

dense (plural denses)

1. dense

Further reading

• “dense” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Adjective

dense f pl

1. Feminine plural of adjective denso.

Etymology

From dēnsus (“close, crowded, dēnse”).

Adverb

dēnsē (comparative dēnsius, superlative dēnsissimē)

1. closely, in rapid succession

Verb

dense

1. Compound of the second-person plural (ustedes) imperative form of dar, den and the pronoun se.