density
Pluraldensities
- 1How much mass is packed into a certain amount of space.
Like packing more books into the same box: it gets heavier without getting any bigger.
Lead has a high density, so a small bar of it feels surprisingly heavy.
Because ice has a lower density than water, it floats on top.
Note
- 2How much of something there is in a given amount of space or area.
Like how a crowded bus has more people squeezed into the same space than an empty one.
The density of houses in this neighborhood is high, with little space between them.
Planting at a lower density gives each tree more room to grow.
Similarconcentration
Oppositesparseness, sparsity
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- 3A number showing how likely each possible value is, for something that can fall anywhere in a range.
Like a hill on a graph: the taller part shows the values that happen most often.
The density is highest near the average, where most results tend to land.
A flat density means every value in the range is equally likely.
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Less common meaning
- 4The quality of being slow to think or understand.
Like a thick wall that new ideas just can't get through.
His density amazed the teacher, who had explained the rule five times.
I couldn't believe the density of the clerk who lost my order twice.
Similarstupidity, obtuseness, dullness, slowness, thickness
Oppositeintelligence, cleverness, brightness, sharpness
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Practice
Can you tell the meanings of density apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
This word came from Latin "densitas" or Middle French "densité," from "dense" plus "-ity."