sparse gathering

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "sparse gathering" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe a meeting or assembly that has very few participants or attendees. Example: "The conference had a sparse gathering of attendees, making it difficult to engage in meaningful discussions."

✓ Grammatically correct

News & Media

Science

Encyclopedias

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

2 human-written examples

Mauresmo, a freshly minted Olympics silver medalist, struggled with her serve before a sparse gathering at center court but never trailed in either set.

The New York Times - Sports

Preseason Knicks attendance was eye opening, and the equally sparse gathering of reporters at the team's practice site yesterday was reflective of the city's baseball obsession but perhaps also of a lack of chutzpah to overpromote the Knicks as something they are most obviously not.

The New York Times - Sports

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

58 human-written examples

After half a lifetime toiling away in frowsty rooms above pubs, preaching the disregarded gospel of socialism to sparse gatherings of the like-minded dozing on rickety chairs, here he was, reborn as the headline act.

Independent

Then I heard the announcer telling the sparse crowd slowly gathering in the field that he wanted them to "give some appreciation to a special guest from England, Mr Adharanand Finn".

The Guardian - Lifestyle

Forgotten, at least for a day, were the sparse and disinterested gatherings of recent years that had caused many players to wonder if anyone cared.

The New York Times - Sports

This finding is significant given the many regions of the world with sparse gauging networks and limited resources for gathering the field data required to calibrate rainfall runoff models.

Journal of Hydrology

But he made it count, starting with the sparse accompaniment of a bass line and inexorably gathering steam.

The New York Times - Arts

In their paper, Ristroph, Liao, and Zhang suggest that the lateral line could "serve as a design principle for placing detectors on underwater vehicles, where it would offer the advantage of gathering flow information using a relatively sparse sensory network".

The New Yorker

Increasing the deployed area size leads to increasing the latency of data gathering, and this is due to sparse SPPs.

EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking

In the tropical rainforests to the south, the sparse population depends on subsistence agriculture or hunting and gathering.

Encyclopedia Britannica

It can be formulated as a sparse signal estimation problem by defining the dictionary Φ gathering all the possible modes obtained by sampling α (P samples) and f (K samples) on a 2-D grid.

EURASIP Journal on Advances in Signal Processing

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

When describing events or meetings, use "sparse gathering" to emphasize the lack of attendees, implying it might not have met expectations or generated the desired impact.

Common error

Avoid using "sparse gathering" to describe the act of collecting scattered items. The phrase refers to a small or thinly populated assembly of people, not the process of accumulating dispersed objects.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "sparse gathering" functions as a noun phrase, typically used as a subject or object in a sentence. It describes a situation where a gathering or assembly has very few attendees. Ludwig AI confirms this usage.

Expression frequency: Uncommon

Frequent in

News & Media

50%

Science

25%

Encyclopedias

25%

Less common in

Formal & Business

0%

Academia

0%

Social Media

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

The phrase "sparse gathering" is a noun phrase that describes a situation where a group of people assembled is small or thinly populated. Ludwig AI confirms it's grammatically correct and usable in written English. While not extremely common, the phrase appears in various contexts, particularly in news media, science, and encyclopedia articles. Semantically related alternatives include "small turnout", "poorly attended event", and "thinly attended meeting". When using this phrase, ensure it accurately reflects the limited attendance and avoid misinterpreting it as related to collecting scattered objects.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

thinly attended meeting

Focuses on the attendance aspect of the gathering, highlighting the low number of attendees.

poorly attended event

Emphasizes the lack of attendance at an event.

meager attendance

Highlights the small quantity of attendees.

small turnout

Focuses on the number of people who showed up.

limited crowd

Emphasizes the restricted size of the crowd.

scant attendance

Highlights the insufficiency of attendees.

underattended assembly

Emphasizes that the assembly did not have enough attendees.

light attendance

Focuses on the low quantity of attendance.

minimal congregation

Highlights the reduced nature of the group.

scattered group

Emphasizes the dispersed arrangement of the people present.

FAQs

How can I use "sparse gathering" in a sentence?

You can use "sparse gathering" to describe an event or a meeting where there are very few people present. For example, "The conference had a "sparse gathering" of attendees, making it difficult to engage in meaningful discussions."

What can I say instead of "sparse gathering"?

You can use alternatives like "small turnout", "poorly attended event", or "thinly attended meeting" depending on the context.

Which is correct, "sparse gathering" or "sparsely gathering"?

"Sparse gathering" is correct. "Sparsely gathering" doesn't work well grammatically because "sparsely" is an adverb and doesn't typically modify a noun directly in this context.

What's the difference between "sparse gathering" and "overcrowded gathering"?

"Sparse gathering" describes a situation where very few people are present, while "overcrowded gathering" describes a situation where there are too many people present in a space.