Literary notes about dense (AI summary)
The word dense functions as a versatile adjective that enriches literary descriptions by conveying both physical compactness and atmospheric intensity. It is frequently employed to depict tightly packed natural landscapes and obstructive foliage—as seen when dry leaves and thick holly bushes keep off drafts [1] or when a primeval forest surrounds a lake [2]—and it describes environmental conditions that diminish clarity, such as heavy fog [3] or impenetrable mists that obscure horizons and challenge perception [4]. Writers also apply it to portray crowded human formations, whether in throngs of soldiers moving in an interlocking mass [5] or a bustling, packed street scene [6]. Additionally, dense can capture a more abstract character trait, with individuals using the term self-deprecatingly to imply slowness of mind [7][8]. In each instance, dense provides a tactile, almost palpable quality that deepens the reader’s sense of place or character, bridging natural elements with human experience.
- Under foot the leaves were dry, and the foliage of some holly bushes which grew among the deciduous trees was dense enough to keep off draughts.
— from Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman by Thomas Hardy - Dense and trackless forests lined the margin of the lake and reflected their inverted images in its glassy surface.
— from Toronto of Old by Henry Scadding - We cruised about for several hours in the dense fog.
— from The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon by Washington Irving - At seven o'clock the day was well along, but a very dense morning mist shrank the horizon, and our best spyglasses were unable to pierce it.
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World by Jules Verne - But the soldiers, crowded together shoulder to shoulder, their bayonets interlocking, moved over the bridge in a dense mass.
— from War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy - Dense crowds of people collected on the bridges, sometimes yelling and abusing us, now and then throwing stones.
— from A Diplomat in Japan by Ernest Mason Satow - “I’m sorry to be so dense,” said the young man, again drawing up outside a shop.
— from Howards End by E. M. Forster - I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings with Sherlock Holmes.
— from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
