dense

Having many parts close together, or a lot of material in a small space.

• The forest is very dense.
• Dense fog covered the road this morning.
• This wood is dense and surprisingly heavy.

Similar words: thick, compact, closely packed

Opposites: sparse, thin

Common phrases: dense forest, dense fog, dense material, dense vegetation

Containing many ideas in little space, so it takes effort to understand.

• The book's language is dense.
• I struggled to follow the dense argument.
• Her essay is dense with references to earlier research.

How to use it: dense with something (The report is dense with technical information.)

Similar words: complex, packed

Opposites: simple

Common phrases: dense prose, dense text, dense with ideas, dense academic writing

Slow to understand things; used as an unkind description of someone.

• Don't be so dense!
• I felt dense when I finally understood the joke.
• He called me dense for asking the same question again.

Similar words: stupid, thick, slow

Opposites: clever, bright

Common phrases: be dense, so dense, a dense person, rather dense