dense

Formsdenser, densest

1. 1
   adjective

   Packed closely together, with little space between things.

   Like books squeezed onto a shelf with no gaps left.

   The forest was so dense we could barely walk between the trees.

   A dense crowd packed into the small square.

   Similarpacked, crowded, compact, thick, tight

   Oppositediffuse

   Note
2. 2
   adjective

   Heavy for its size, with a lot of material packed into a small space.

   Like a small stone that feels surprisingly heavy when you pick it up.

   Gold is a dense metal that feels heavy in your hand.

   Lead is so dense that a small block weighs a lot.

   Similarsolid

   Note
3. 3
   adjective

   So thick that it is hard to see or move through.

   Like a thick wall of mist you cannot see beyond.

   Dense fog covered the road and we could hardly see ahead.

   We pushed through the dense bushes to reach the river.

   Similarthick, solid

   Oppositethin

   Note
4. 4
   adjective

   Hard to understand because it is full of complicated ideas.

   Like a knot of string that is hard to untangle.

   The instructions were so dense that nobody could follow them.

   He found the textbook too dense to read in one sitting.

   Similarobscure, difficult, incomprehensible, impenetrable, mysterious

   Oppositeclear, simple, understandable, comprehensible

5. 5
   adjective

   Slow to understand things, and not quick to learn.

   He can be a bit dense when people drop hints.

   I felt dense for not seeing the answer right away.

   Similarstupid, slow, dumb, thick, brainless

   Oppositesmart, intelligent, bright, quick

   Note
6. 6
   adjective

   So thick that almost no light can pass through.

   Like thick black curtains that keep a room dark at noon.

   The dense smoke blocked out the sun completely.

   Dense curtains kept the bedroom dark all morning.

   Similaropaque, cloudy, thick

   Oppositeclear, transparent, translucent

7. 7
   adjective

   In math, describing a set with members as close as you like to every point of the larger set around it.

   The fractions are dense in the real numbers, so you can always find one between any two points on the number line.

   Whole numbers are not dense, because there are gaps between them.

   Note

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