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sparely

sparely

3.9
Using only a small amount
  • adverb
  • /ˈspɛrli/
translation icon : con moderación
  • Both men are gray-haired; both are sparely made.
  • sparely furnished
  • sparely written

Examples

  • The room was decorated sparely, with just a simple table and a chair.

  • He lives sparely, using only the essentials to get by.

  • "Here too he set out the facts sparely, as he had done for the Bureau."

    Fiction book (1998)
  • Gilbert was dark-haired, five feet eight inches tall, and sparely made.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • To hear her talk, this quiet, sparely furnished rental was Saint Anthony's own wilderness.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • I bought this Nudie green juice and it's Kiwi, passion fruit, celery, cucumber, sparely enough, kale and more.

  • Both the sparely rendered interior and exterior surfaces lacked the sculptural excesses more typical of major temple constructions (Fig. 1).

    Academic text (2008)
  • The service followed the simplest Anglican rites, and the village pastor, as he likes to be called, began the eulogy sparely, with the dates of the deceased's birth and death, his education, war record, academic career, the names of his surviving family, and the thirty-year period of his local residence.

    Academic text (1991)
  • She expressed her feelings sparely, choosing her words with great care.

Synonyms

lightly
vssparely
55 1.0

With only a small amount of food or drink

stresses limited quantity generally not just light consumption
sparingly
vssparely
15 3.5

Using only a small amount

has the same meaning and use in ordinary contexts
frugally
vssparely
3 4.4

Using only what you need to avoid waste

emphasizes small use without stressing economy or money
meagerly
vssparely
  • US
1 6.8

In a small way that is not enough

implies restrained use but not necessarily lacking quality
savingly
vssparely
6.7

Using something in small amounts to avoid waste

is broader, meaning restrained use not only saving actions
thriftily
vssparely
5.0

Using money and things carefully to avoid waste

is similar but focuses on small amount rather than money habits
leanly
vssparely
4.2

In a thin, simple way without extra things

means limited use rather than physical thinness or shape

Antonyms

32 3.0

To a degree that is more than needed or acceptable

11 5.6

In a very rich and generous way using a lot of money

How Much

generously
49 2.0
sparely
3.9
barely
1.0

Surface Forms

sparely positive

Morphology

sparely = spare (transparent) = spare + ly

Formed by a standard adverbial suffix '-ly' from the adjective 'spare', so the meaning is directly derived from the base.

Etymology

The word sparely comes from the simple word spare meaning 'extra' or 'to save', and -ly makes it describe how something is done. So to do something sparely is to use only a little or to save what you have.