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as in thick
not having or showing an ability to absorb ideas readily she accused him of being dense when he didn't seem to understand her at first

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective dense contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of dense are crass, dull, dumb, and stupid. While all these words mean "lacking in power to absorb ideas or impressions," dense implies a thickheaded imperviousness to ideas.

too dense to take a hint

When can crass be used instead of dense?

The words crass and dense can be used in similar contexts, but crass suggests a grossness of mind precluding discrimination or delicacy.

a crass, materialistic people

When might dull be a better fit than dense?

While the synonyms dull and dense are close in meaning, dull suggests a slow or sluggish mind such as results from disease, depression, or shock.

monotonous work that leaves the mind dull

When would dumb be a good substitute for dense?

The meanings of dumb and dense largely overlap; however, dumb applies to an exasperating obtuseness or lack of comprehension.

too dumb to figure out what's going on

When is it sensible to use stupid instead of dense?

The words stupid and dense are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, stupid implies a slow-witted or dazed state of mind that may be either congenital or temporary.

stupid students just keeping the seats warm
stupid with drink

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of dense Of course, a hot, dense plasma wasn’t the beginning of things either. Ethan Siegel, Big Think, 16 Sep. 2025 In situations of near-zero visibility due to dense fog, activate your hazard lights and seek a secure location, such as a nearby business’s parking lot, to pull over and come to a stop. Bay Area Weather Report, Mercury News, 16 Sep. 2025 Any night … is fair game for locally dense fog. Anna Skinner, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Sep. 2025 In true Fanatics fashion, the flag football event is a dense overlap of existing relationships, partners and collaborators. Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico.com, 15 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for dense
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dense
Adjective
  • At first glance, Nam-Joon Cho’s lab at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University looks like your typical research facility—scientists toiling away, crowded workbenches, a hum of machinery in the background.
    Sandy Ong, JSTOR Daily, 11 Sep. 2025
  • The company has been around for over four decades, and other big-name tech companies, such as IBM, Microsoft, and Amazon, have made the cloud services market more crowded than ever.
    Preston Fore, Fortune, 11 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • The polished sateen set boasts a thick border in six color combinations to wake up a bedroom.
    Nashia Baker, Architectural Digest, 10 Sep. 2025
  • To serve, top with thick, creamy Greek yogurt and vibrant fruits of choice, like raspberries, mangoes and blueberries.
    The New York Times News Service Syndicate, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • In six months, the site has grown from 600 people fleeing gang attacks in nearby Delmas 30 to 5,000 people from all over the capital, sheltering in packed government offices and makeshift shacks.
    Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 15 Sep. 2025
  • His energy at his Century club gig was infectious resulting in a frenzied, packed dance floor.
    Joanne Shurvell, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • During the prelims in Tokyo, Seville had a concerning slow reaction to the starting gun.
    Katelyn Hutchison, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
  • Parisian servers may have an undeserved reputation for being slow, but instead of complaining or searching for faster service elsewhere, settle in with a book or newspaper.
    Lane Nieset, Travel + Leisure, 14 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Credit spreads are at their tightest in about 20 years, meaning there is little difference in yields between corporate bonds compared to government bonds.
    Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 12 Sep. 2025
  • The project, created under tight deadlines and with hobby-grade parts, is now on track for wider military use.
    Kapil Kajal, Interesting Engineering, 12 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Napier got a one-year honeymoon until a Week 1 loss at Utah in 2023, the year when the Gators committed a silly amount of dumb penalties (including the original instance of two guys wearing the same jersey).
    Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2025
  • The reigning Super Bowl champs better hope that’s the dumbest thing that one of their players does this season.
    Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 6 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • The popular handheld vacuum has racked up more than 28,000 perfect ratings and earns praise for its compact size and impressive suction.
    Sian Babish, PEOPLE, 11 Sep. 2025
  • These advancements are particularly critical for edge AI, where compact, low-power systems must deliver high performance without the luxury of massive cloud data centers.
    Lee-Lean Shu, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • And when Sam cooks up a truly stupid scheme to make some quick cash, there’s little doubt a heavy like Mickey isn’t going to like it.
    Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 12 Sep. 2025
  • There's a fine line between stupid and clever, indeed.
    Jordan Hoffman, Entertainment Weekly, 12 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Dense.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dense. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.

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