English edit

Etymology edit

From sparse +‎ -en.

Verb edit

sparsen (third-person singular simple present sparsens, present participle sparsening, simple past and past participle sparsened)

  1. (rare, transitive, intransitive) To make or become sparse.
    • 2015, Peter Boxall, The Value of the Novel, page 36:
      Again and again, as Beckett's narrative structures tighten and sparsen after the word frenzy of Malone Dies and The Unnamable, we see this effect re-emerging as the underlying condition of narrative voice.

Anagrams edit