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dense

 - 3 dictionary results

dense

  [dens]
Use dense in a Sentence
–adjective, dens⋅er, dens⋅est.
1. having the component parts closely compacted together; crowded or compact: a dense forest; dense population.
2. stupid; slow-witted; dull.
3. intense; extreme: dense ignorance.
4. relatively opaque; transmitting little light, as a photographic negative, optical glass, or color.
5. difficult to understand or follow because of being closely packed with ideas or complexities of style: a dense philosophical essay.
6. Mathematics. of or pertaining to a subset of a topological space in which every neighborhood of every point in the space contains at least one point of the subset.
Origin:
1590–1600; < L dēnsus thick; c. Gk dasýs

Related forms:
densely, adverb
denseness, noun

Synonyms:
1. congested, crammed, teeming; impenetrable.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To dense
dense   (děns)   
adj.   dens·er, dens·est

    1. Having relatively high density.

    2. Crowded closely together; compact: a dense population.

    3. Permitting little light to pass through, because of compactness of matter: dense glass; a dense fog.

    4. Opaque, with good contrast between light and dark areas. Used of a photographic negative.

  2. Hard to penetrate; thick: a dense jungle.

    1. Permitting little light to pass through, because of compactness of matter: dense glass; a dense fog.

    2. Opaque, with good contrast between light and dark areas. Used of a photographic negative.

  4. Difficult to understand because of complexity or obscurity: a dense novel.

  5. Slow to apprehend; thickheaded.


[Middle English, from Latin dēnsus.]
dense'ly adv., dense'ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

dense 
1599, from L. densus "thick, crowded." Sense of "stupid" is first recorded 1822. Density is from 1603.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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