Thicker vs Dense - What's the difference?
thicker | dense |
(thick)
Relatively great in extent from one surface to the opposite in its smallest solid dimension.
* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=17 Measuring a certain number of units in this dimension.
Heavy in build; thickset.
* 2007 , James T. Knight, Queen of the Hustle
Densely crowded or packed.
* , chapter=3
, title= Having a viscous consistency.
Abounding in number.
Impenetrable to sight.
Difficult to understand, or poorly articulated.
(informal) Stupid.
(informal) Friendly or intimate.
* T. Hughes
Deep, intense, or profound.
* Shakespeare
In a thick manner.
Thickly.
Frequently; in great numbers.
The thickest, or most active or intense, part of something.
* Dryden
A thicket.
* Drayton
* Spenser
A stupid person; a fool.
* 2014 , Joseph O'Connor, The Thrill of It All (page 100)
(archaic) To thicken.
Having relatively high density.
Compact; crowded together.
Thick; difficult to penetrate.
*, chapter=13
, title= Opaque; allowing little light to pass through.
Obscure, or difficult to understand.
(mathematics, topology) Being a subset of a topological space that approximates the space well. See Wikipedia article on (dense set)s for mathematical definition.
Of a person, slow to comprehend; of low intelligence.
As adjectives the difference between thicker and dense
is that thicker is (thick) while dense is having relatively high density.As an adverb thicker
is .thicker
English
Adjective
(head)Adverb
(head)thick
English
Adjective
(er)citation, passage=The face which emerged was not reassuring. It was blunt and grey, the nose springing thick and flat from high on the frontal bone of the forehead, whilst his eyes were narrow slits of dark in a tight bandage of tissue. […].}}
- As she twirled around in front of the mirror admiring how the dress showed off her thick booty, she felt like a princess in a children's storybook.
Mr. Pratt's Patients, passage=My hopes wa'n't disappointed. I never saw clams thicker than they was along them inshore flats. I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out. Clams was fairly scarce over that side of the bay and ought to fetch a fair price.}}
- We have been thick ever since.
- thick sleep
Synonyms
* (relatively great in extent from one surface to another) broad * (measuring a certain number of units in this dimension) * (heavy in build) chunky, solid, stocky, thickset * (densely crowded or packed) crowded, dense, packed * (having a viscous consistency) glutinous, viscous * (abounding in number) overflowing, swarming, teeming * (impenetrable to sight) dense, opaque, solid * (sense) unclear * dense, dumb (informal), stupid, thick as pigshit (taboo slang), thick as two short planks (slang) * (sense) chummy (qualifier), close, close-knit, friendly, pally (informal), intimate, tight-knit * great, extreme * See alsoAntonyms
* (relatively great in extent from one surface to another) slim, thin * (heavy in build) slender, slight, slim, svelte, thin * (densely crowded or packed) sparse * (having a viscous consistency) free-flowing, runny * (abounding in number) * (impenetrable to sight) thin, transparent * (sense) clear, lucid * brainy (informal), intelligent, smart * (sense) unacquaintedDerived terms
* blood is thicker than water * thick and thin * thick as a brick * thick as a plank * thick as thieves * thick as two short planks * thicket * thickhead * thickish * thickly * thicko * thickness * thickset * thick-skinned * thick-un * thickyAdverb
(er)- Snow lay thick on the ground.
- Bread should be sliced thick to make toast.
- The arrows flew thick and fast around us.
Noun
(-)- It was mayhem in the thick of battle.
- He through a little window cast his sight / Through thick of bars, that gave a scanty light.
- gloomy thicks
- Through the thick they heard one rudely rush.
- If there was doctorates in bollocksology and scratching yourself in bed, the two of you'd be professors by now. Pair of loafing, idle thicks .
Derived terms
* in the thick of * through thick and thinVerb
(en verb)- The nightmare Life-in-death was she, / Who thicks man's blood with cold. — Coleridge.
dense
English
Adjective
(er)The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them.}}