Quantity
Synonyms for sparse
Synonyms for sparse: scanty and scarce. Every one of them is a hand audited pair from the Synonym Stack word bank, shown below in the sense it fits, in a real sentence, and beside the words that only look close.
The 2 synonyms for sparse
Interchangeable with sparse in this sense
Audited under sparse's own entry, so the meaning quoted is the one sparse carries in that sense.
- scantyadjective, in the sense "thinly dispersed or scattered; existing in small quantities"
Recorded from the other side of the pair
These entries were written under the other word and name sparse as the true synonym, so the sense quoted is theirs.
- scarcescarce is an adjective in the sense "insufficient in supply; not plentiful"
Two directions, one standard: one audited under sparse and one under the partner word. Nothing here was expanded out of a thesaurus.
thinly dispersed or scattered; existing in small quantities
Vegetation grew sparse as the trail climbed above the tree line.
The true synonym
scanty
Same sentence, swapped: Vegetation grew scanty as the trail climbed above the tree line.
Close but different
The game shows these three beside the answer. Each is a real word with a real meaning and none of them fits the slot sparse is in above, which is the point the reason line makes.
- rocky
- steep
- shaded
Where sparse turns up in the game
sparse is the word under test in one puzzle, at Tier 2, Treeline. It also sits on the board as one of the three wrong tiles in two other puzzles, where the answer is a different word entirely.
The puzzles where sparse is the trap
Play sparse
The bank on this page is the bank the game plays from, so sparse reaches you as a board rather than a definition: the sentence first, four tiles, and the meaning after you choose.
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Closest first: other quantity words at Treeline, then the same tier across the rest of the library.
A reason under every answer, not just a right answer
Synonym Stack plays from this exact bank. sparse carries 1 written reason line, and the game shows them the moment a round ends, whichever tile you tapped.