Meaning of dense in English

Table of contents

Classifying Adjective
dense
Definitions
1. permitting little if any light to pass through because of denseness of matter
Examples
- « dense smoke »
- « heavy fog »
- « impenetrable gloom »
Synonyms
- thick
2. closely crowded together
Examples
- « a compact shopping center »
- « a dense population »
- « thick crowds »
Synonyms
- concentrated
3. hard to pass through because of dense growth
Examples
- « dense vegetation »
- « thick woods »
Synonyms
- impenetrable
4. having high relative density or specific gravity
Examples
- « dense as lead »
Synonyms
- heavy
5. slow to learn or understand
Examples
- « lacking intellectual acuity »
- « so dense he never understands anything I say to him »
- « never met anyone quite so dim »
- « although dull at classical learning, at mathematics he was uncommonly quick- Thackeray »
- « dumb officials mak »
Synonyms
- stupid

Famous quotes

« It is only when you watch the dense mass of thousands of ants, crowded together around the Hill, blackening the ground, that you begin to see the whole beast, and now you observe it thinking, planning, calculating. It is an intelligence, a kind of live computer, with crawling bits for its wits. »
Lewis Thomas
« We were alone. Where, I could not say, hardly imagine. All was black, and such a dense black that, after some minutes, my eyes had not been able to discern even the faintest glimmer. »
Jules Verne
« We may not always agree with every one of our neighbors. That's life. And it's part of living in such a diverse and dense city. But we also recognize that part of being a New Yorker is living with your neighbors in mutual respect and tolerance. It was exactly that spirit of openness and acceptance that was attacked on 9/11, 2001. »
Michael Bloomberg